I'm not one for 'chickflicks'.
I put the term 'chickflick' inside inverted commas because I'm not entirely sure what the phrase means. There are obviously girly movies that are schmaltzy and glib and have nothing to do with real life, and there are others that are way too real (Beaches et al) and set out to destroy your happiness from the outset, but I have just watched a chickflick {on my own, no chick company involved} that was quite simply sublime.
'Silver Linings Playbook', a David O'Russell movie (his sixth since 1994, including the acclaimed 'Three Kings and 'The Fighter') has a rather odd overriding premise of having the seemingly opposing factions in the plotline actually being two 'antiheroes'. Both social pariah after having major mental health problems (the male protagonist via his Bi-Polar disorder, and the female through issues with grief, after the untimely death of her policeman husband, causing her some antisocial behavioural disorders.
Balancing on the edge of a sushi knife between comedy and psychological drama, Silver Linings Playbook opens with, after eight months under a mental health section, the release from a mental institution of the explosive Patrick Solitano Jr. (I think this is where the resonance for me personally begins).
Played by the disgustingly handsome Bradley Cooper (probably best known for his roles in the "Hangover" movies.) his character has been diagnosed as bipolar after beating up a fellow high school teacher, whom he finds having a shower with his (Pat's) wife.
Primary, in the conditions of his release, is that he takes his medication and lives with his father, Robert De Niro, doing what seems almost second nature by now in playing the part of a 'rough round the edges, antagonistic, but basically warm hearted 'Father' role {who is now running an illegal bookmaking business in his parlour} and his devoted mother.
Meanwhile, he must keep inside the remits of his restraining order in regard to his wife, and make regular visits to his consultant, a carnivorously perceptive yet humorous Indian psychiatrist. (The 'Indian' may seem a bit "un-PC", but the reference becomes clear later in the movie)
Almost every character in this movie is an obsessives of sorts, but are all 'obsessives' whom are of a type that we all know in our everyday livese, as are the majority of the people Patrick meets in his native Philadelphia home streets.
A particular passion they all share is for the local American football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, Because of the tradition of disruptive behaviour his over-enthusiastic presence encourages, Pat's father has been banned from the Eagles' stadium for an obsession with his support ending up in violence in-stadium, which, in turn, lends itself to directing the viewer to a possible origin of Pats' mental health problems
Most significant among the people Pat reunites with after release from hospital is the young widow Tiffany, a good-looking woman living in the garage of her parents' home, which she's turned into a dance studio. An old school friend of Patrick's, she hilariously reunites with him over dinner as they exchange notes about the medication they've been taking. The main thrust of the movie afterwards is the dynamic between these two main characters.
Directed through a project to involve him in an annual dance competition, the city's local equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, he seeks to gain favour with his ex-wife by showing her his new found focus while simultaneously failing to see the bonds he is forming with Tiffany, a woman who is obviously good for him, perhaps better for him than his estranged wife ever was.
I loved this movie .. one of the best I've seen in a while.
Highly recommended.
I like him ... He says "Okie Dokie!"