Silver Linings Playbook

To be perfectly honest, if this film would not have been directed by David O. Russell, I would have never gone to it. Early trailers made it look like stereotypical romantic comedy fodder, but, later trailers, and the knowledge of Russell as director, changed my mind.

Silver Linings Playbook is the story of Pat (Bradley Cooper), a man who has just been pulled out of the state mental hospital by his mother, to come home and be with his family again. Pat has had a difficult past, mainly stemming from his bi-polar disorder, but feels positive about where he is. So positive, in fact, that he hopes to win over his estranged wife Nikki. He meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) at a dinner, and enlists her help to try and get Nikki back, although she's clearly in love with him. She has emotional problems, as well, stemming from the sudden death of her husband. Together, the two make a life conquering, dysfunctional team, that attempt to get things back to some semblance of happiness for each other.

Cooper is pretty good in this film, and goes to further prove, he's not just the guy from The Hangover. Jennifer Lawrence is at her crazy/sexy best. Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver play Pat's mother and father, and are fantastic. The biggest surprise here, though, was Chris Tucker as Danny, Pat's friend from the mental institute. Tucker actually gets to act here, as opposed to being Rush Hour Chris Tucker, and he does a really good job. Hoping to see him in more stuff soon.

This film was better than I expected. It was fun, meaningful, and I think David O. Russell is hitting that Soderbergh stride of being able to produce amazing independent style films, and larger budget Hollywood fare.

The Hangover Part 2

They said this was going to be the Godfather, Part 2 of comedy sequels, and while that may initially seem like a major boast for this type of film to make, it actually wasn't that far off. You see The Godfather, Part 2 essentially tells a very similar story to that of its predecessor, and so does The Hangover.

In this film, we're in Thailand for Stu's wedding, and, needless to say, as the bachelor party commences, the hijinks ensue. All of the lead cast is back, including, oddly enough, Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow, who feels forced into the film, but is, never the less, very funny. There's not much to say about this film. If you've seen the first one, you've seen this one. The gags are a little different, and more oriented towards the geographical location the crew finds themselves in, but otherwise it's pretty paint by numbers.