This is a cute little film that really does not transcend its very effective trailer. There’s a lot of films with this problem lately, and I find that even if I enjoy such films I still leave the theater feeling like I got ripped off in some way. It’s not entirely fair (what if I hadn’t seen the trailer?) but it is not entirely unfair either. After all, if a film cannot develop characters, plot and dialog that makes you forget a 2 minute preview then it’s pretty much doomed as a serious artistic endeavor.

Silver Linings Playbook is about mental dysfunction. Usually films in this genera are pretty dreary. This one has a bit more life to it. But the film lacks a certain depth, and the characters are only developed enough to support the immediate needs of the plot. The ending was sweet, but fell a bit flat. It all fell a bit flat, actually.

I really have come to like Bradley Cooper, and his charisma and spontaneity carries the film. I was surprised to like Robert De Niro (an actor I’m not particularly fond of) in his crazy yet sensitive role. But Jennifer Lawrence’s acting always strikes me as a bit flat and lifeless, and she’s no different in this film. I sort of wonder how much she held the film back. I should add that it was very nice to see Julia Stiles for a few seconds, just to know that marvelous actress is still alive, even if no one has the sense or the guts to give her a staring role anymore.

Silver Linings Playbook goes down pretty well, but it’s not something I’ll be returning to, ever. Put it on your Netflix cue for a slow night.

PS – now that the Oscar nominations are out and the Golden Globes are through, I feel compelled to add a post script. This film is nominated like it’s one of the best films of the last decade. That’s absurd! Cooper is good, but he does not blow your mind! DeNiro is better than he normally is, and is kind of funny, but I don’t think he transforms the film the way Mo’Nique transformed Precious, or the way Kevin Klein transformed A Fish Called Wanda. Jacki Weaver? I think she’s a wonderful actress, but she really doesn’t do much here – they should have given her the Oscar for Aminal Kingdom, like she deserved.

And Jennifer Lawrence . . . I think she was nominated for the same reason that magazine recently declared her to be the most desirable woman in the world: forces are at work to turn this gal into a media superstar, no matter what! Seriously, compare her performance, for example, to the magnificent performance of Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed (it’s a travesty Winstead was ignored this year.) Compare her performance to Zoe Kazan’s wonderful performance in Ruby Sparks. Clearly Jennifer Lawrence is at best “pretty good” in this film – she’s flat in places, always a bit stilted, her comic touch is hardly thrilling, her dancing isn’t very convincing, and her character did not lodge in my brain in any way. Hell, Greta Gerwig was better in Lola Versus, for Christ sake!

As for Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Director, each of those is more ridiculous than the last. The screenplay was pretty average. The direction was completely unremarkable. Maybe you could defend Best Picture based on its overall appeal, I’m not sure.

All I know is that people really need to retrieve their heads over this picture!!!