Thursday, February 21, 2013

Silver Linings Playbook

Unelmien pelikirja / Du gör mig galen! [No Swedish on-screen title in the Finnish release] US © 2012 SLPTWC Films. The Weinstein Company presents. P: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon. D+SC: David O. Russell - based on the novel The Silver Linings Playbook (2008) by Matthew Quick. DP: Masanobu Takayanagi - DI: Technicolor. PD: Judy Becker. AD: Jesse Rosenthal. Set dec: Heather Loeffler. Cost: Mark Bridges. Makeup: Janeen Schreyer. Hair: Lori McCoy-Bell. VFX: DIVE - supervisor: Ed Mendez. Digital paint: DDMG. M and score producer: Danny Elfman. "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder: the wedding song which becomes an obsession for Pat. S: Odin Benitez. ED: Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers. Casting: Lindsay Graham, Mary Vernieu. Loc: Pennsylvania (Ridley Park, Philadelphia, Norristown, Lansdowne, Upper Darby, Delaware County). Released by Future Film with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Janne Kauppila / Kajsa Wickström. 2K DCP viewed at Tennispalatsi 13, Helsinki, 21 Feb 2013.

THE CAST (AS EDITED IN WIKIPEDIA):
Bradley Cooper as Patrizio "Pat Jr." Solitano
Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany Maxwell
Robert De Niro as Patrizio "Pat Sr." Solitano
Jacki Weaver as Dolores Solitano
Chris Tucker as Danny McDaniels, Pat's best friend, whom he met at the Baltimore mental health facility
Julia Stiles as Veronica Maxwell
Anupam Kher as Dr. Cliff Patel
Brea Bee as Nikki Solitano
Shea Whigham as Jake Solitano
John Ortiz as Ronnie, Veronica's husband
Paul Herman as Randy
Dash Mihok as Officer Keogh

TECHNICAL SPECS (IMDb): - Camera: Arricam LT, Zeiss Master Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses, Arricam ST, Zeiss Master Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses - Film length: 3345 m (6 reels) - Film negative format: 35 mm (Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219) - Cinematographic process: Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format), Super 35 (3-perf) (source format) (some shots), Techniscope (source format) - Printed film format: 35 mm (anamorphic) (Kodak Vision 2383), D-Cinema - Aspect ratio: 2.35:1.

THE OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
"Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet - and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives." (The Weinstein Company)

The Weinstein brothers and David O. Russell are again "flirting with disaster" with this story of Pat and Tiffany who have experienced mental breakdowns. Pat has also evidently inherited a tendency to a mental disorder from his dad, Pat Sr., played daringly by Robert De Niro as a crazy old fool.

In the beginning I felt the film is too frenetic and relentless in scenes of high tension and instances of social disaster.

The actors are all good but Jennifer Lawrence stands out in a truly magnificent performance. When she enters, the movie rises to another level. With her, moments of contemplation also emerge.

I have not read the novel but I am aware that things have been changed in the screenplay. The parlay success, the double victory conclusion and happy endings for all are perhaps the Weinstein touch in this movie. Maybe the movie would never have been made without them.

The theme of madness is profound and complex in the movie. There is the concept that we all need some madness - as is evident in the Halloween and the football sequences with their monster make-ups and violent outbursts. The bookmaking and the keeping of playbooks can be fun and games, but they can come close to madness if taken too intensively.

There is also a dimension of everyday madness, a pervasive sense of breaking down, not only in the lives of Pat Junior and Pat Senior. Ronnie confesses to Pat that "I feel like I'm getting crushed". Pat and Tiffany are mad but there is an honesty in their madness, and there is a sense of pretense in the apparent normality of some of the other characters.

Visual quality: the film has been shot on photochemical 35 mm film, and the digital intermediate has been performed very well. The warm hues in the dancing sequences and the autumn colours look good.

Even rougher notes: - But the pressure - I feel like I'm getting crushed - It's suffocating - You can't be happy all the time - An awkward quality - Don't speak about me in the third person - The drug talk - Poor social skills - Flirting with disaster - Labile, unstable, neurotic, unhappy characters - Autumn colours - Excelsior - Restraining order - Halloween - A bowl of Raisins Bran - A cup of tea - Self-deception - The fake letters from Nikki -  I accused my boss of harassment - "My Cherie Amour", the wedding song - Puhut ohi suusi koko ajan - Minulta puuttuu suodatin puheestani - Breaking up, breaking down - The brother who succeeds in everything in what Pat fails: wife, home, job - Walk to me like I'm Nikki - The dancing rehearsal room - There's no silver lining - Towards the end there are more quiet moments - The Giants vs. The Eagles - The theme of going crazy - Parlay: win double or nothing - Video cassettes - The photos of the two sons

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