David O. Russell has established himself already as a great director of
some great movies but so far his comedies hadn't been very successful
yet, either financially or critically. Up until this movie! "Silver
Linings Playbook" got received well, all across the board and even got
nominated for numerous big awards, including 8 Oscar's.
It's one of those comedies with a more subtle approach it. A random slice of life if you will, with some very human-like characters and situations that work out as comical but aren't all too far fetched or exaggerated. The type of dramedy that got perfected by Alexander Payne. And here also lays a problem for me; If have seen many similar genre movies already, that did a much better job at handling its different genre elements.
In that regard it's also somewhat surprising to see the amount of praise this movie is getting. As far as the genre goes, nor the drama or comedy is the best or most involving, that you are ever likely to come across.
Of course I'm not saying that this movie is a bad or ineffective one but I still did wish I could feel somewhat more involved with the characters and drama in this movie. The way this movie constantly came across to me was as a more light and lesser version of an Alexander Payne movie. Perhaps it's not fair to compare this to a Payne movie but I just couldn't help it and the similarities are all definitely there. And also of course when I judge this movie on its own, I still keep having some problems with its story, drama and characters. It are all small, minor problems but together they became big enough to prevent me from falling in love with this movie, or regard it as one of the year's bests.
But lets focus on the positive for a while. It's definitely still a good genre movie, mostly because it manages to feel like both a cute and dramatic one, all at the same time. It's an entertaining movie, despite that it's about some heavy and serious subject as well.
But the thing that still stands out the most about this movie is its acting. It's definitely true Bradley Cooper never had been better, in any movie. I think that with this movie he showed the world that he's truly a great actor. And with actors such as Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker and Julia Stiles, it also has a great, solid supporting cast!
Good, cute and entertaining enough all. it however remains truly far from the best that the genre has to offer.
7/10
It's one of those comedies with a more subtle approach it. A random slice of life if you will, with some very human-like characters and situations that work out as comical but aren't all too far fetched or exaggerated. The type of dramedy that got perfected by Alexander Payne. And here also lays a problem for me; If have seen many similar genre movies already, that did a much better job at handling its different genre elements.
In that regard it's also somewhat surprising to see the amount of praise this movie is getting. As far as the genre goes, nor the drama or comedy is the best or most involving, that you are ever likely to come across.
Of course I'm not saying that this movie is a bad or ineffective one but I still did wish I could feel somewhat more involved with the characters and drama in this movie. The way this movie constantly came across to me was as a more light and lesser version of an Alexander Payne movie. Perhaps it's not fair to compare this to a Payne movie but I just couldn't help it and the similarities are all definitely there. And also of course when I judge this movie on its own, I still keep having some problems with its story, drama and characters. It are all small, minor problems but together they became big enough to prevent me from falling in love with this movie, or regard it as one of the year's bests.
But lets focus on the positive for a while. It's definitely still a good genre movie, mostly because it manages to feel like both a cute and dramatic one, all at the same time. It's an entertaining movie, despite that it's about some heavy and serious subject as well.
But the thing that still stands out the most about this movie is its acting. It's definitely true Bradley Cooper never had been better, in any movie. I think that with this movie he showed the world that he's truly a great actor. And with actors such as Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker and Julia Stiles, it also has a great, solid supporting cast!
Good, cute and entertaining enough all. it however remains truly far from the best that the genre has to offer.
7/10
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