Another Moving On Movie: Silver Linings Playbook

I heard about this movie from another good friend who posted something positive on his Facebook profile, and I was attracted to its features I would see once in a while on TV before the Academy Awards. I was curious to discover how Jennifer Lawrence won an Academy award for the kind of acting she delivered in this movie where she played a widowed, slutty-in-a-previous-life, an inspired dancer and a most loving and intelligent character you won't expect seeing in this kind of romantic comedy movie. Of course, you'd see the hallmarks of a commercially made Hollywood movie in this one, but you got to go out of your way to watch this film one of these days.

I saw it with a good friend at the Angelika one weekend night, where I saw so many people lining up for another movie, ('Trance', another movie by the one who brought you 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'Trainspotting'). I almost thought of exchanging our tickets so that we would watch instead the other movie that got me really envious and curious. But I'm grateful to have made the final decision to watch this movie instead. And that's primarily because it's almost an authentic retelling of real people's lives, some of whom I've met and known in my daily struggles in making a significant life, given challenges and struggles I face. I even saw aspects of myself in the movie. And I was thinking that the main protagonist, as played most effectively by Bradley Cooper, could have committed suicide if he persisted with his terrible way of rationalizing what happened to his life and his loved ones; that's one of the probabilities that happen to those who have similar conditions in their lives. That precisely what happened to someone dear I know---he was bipolar and was under therapy for years, and he committed suicide. 

Technically, what I love most about this film's its cinematography. I thought I saw quaint, very pretty but very disturbing scenes in the tradition of well crafted films made by certain Japanese directors. Watch out for the ending scenes, where you won't hear dialogue but for a few seconds be caught with what reels before your eyes. You realize life, as shown in the movie, goes on, and changes take place. It felt very much like life.

This is also a very compelling but humorous moving on movie, which can be used by those seeking some help to manage with their respective issues. It's loaded with a lot of heavy intellectual stuff you rather not deal with in a comedy, but miraculously, the movie narrated something you probably have seen in real life. Watch it also because it's a fun film. It's worth your while, in case you find yourself having some time to kill one of these days.