Silver Linings Playbook

About the film

Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by David O. Russell. The film is based on Matthew Quick's 2008 novel The Silver Linings Playbook. It stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, and Chris Tucker in supporting roles.

The film is set in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. Cooper plays Patrizio "Pat" Solitano Jr., a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves in with his parents (De Niro and Weaver). Pat is determined to restore the love of his estranged wife. He meets a young widow, Tiffany Maxwell (Lawrence), who offers to help him if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become closer as they train, and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their situations.

Plot

After 8 months' treatment in a mental health facility for bipolar disorder, Patrizio "Pat" Solitano Jr. is released into the care of his parents, Patrizio Sr. and Dolores, at his childhood home in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. His primary focus is to reconcile with his ex-wife, Nikki. She has moved away and obtained a restraining order against him after he found her in the shower with another man and badly beat him.

Pat's therapist, Cliff Patel, tries to convince him to keep taking his medication because a repeat of his violent outbursts might send him back to the clinic. Pat tells him that he has a new outlook on life: He attempts to see the good, or silver lining, in all that he experiences. Meanwhile, Pat experiences a series of anxiety attacks.

Pat attends dinner at his best friend Ronnie's house, where Ronnie's sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell, a widow with an unnamed disorder, is also a guest. They connect, talking about different psychiatric medications they have taken to manage their mental illnesses. She tries to offer him casual sex, but Pat is focused on getting Nikki back. Trying to get closer to him, Tiffany offers to deliver a letter to Nikki if, in return, he partners with her in an upcoming dance competition. Convinced that helping Tiffany will show Nikki he has changed and has developed sensitivity to others, Pat agrees. Pat and Tiffany start practicing over the following weeks.

Production

Renee Witt, an executive at The Weinstein Company, convinced Harvey Weinstein to option the book by Matthew Quick on which the film is based, doing so before it was published. Sydney Pollack began developing for David O. Russell to direct. Pollack told Russell that the film adaptation would be tricky because of the story's mixture of troubling emotion, humor, and romance. Russell estimates that he rewrote the script twenty times over five years. Russell was drawn to the story because of the family relationships and the connection he felt to his own son, who has bipolar disorder and OCD.

The film was shot in 33 days. A darker, more extreme version of the dance sequence was filmed, and scenes with De Niro's character were shot in multiple versions, with the character harsher or warmer, as Russell worked with editor Jay Cassidy to set the balance they wanted.

The locations are Upper Darby, Ridley Park and Lansdowne communities just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although not mentioned by name in the film, Ridley Park is credited at the end, and a police officer can be seen wearing the initials "RPPD" on his collar.

Music

The musical score was composed by Danny Elfman. Silver Linings Playbook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film released by Sony Music Entertainment on November 16, 2012 featuring songs heard in the film. Elfman's score for the film was also released simultaneously with the song album.

Release

Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2012, where it won the People's Choice Award. It opened at the 2012 Mumbai Film Festival on October 18, 2012, and received a limited release in the United States on November 16, 2012, opening wider later that week.

The Weinstein Company initially planned an unusually wide release for Silver Linings Playbook, going nationwide on an estimated 2,000 screens. They were encouraged by positive reviews and hoping to capitalize on Thanksgiving to do more business. Instead, they took a more slow-burn approach, opening in fewer theaters, expanding gradually, in a strategy to build up word-of-mouth support. Continuing the slow release, the film expanded to 700 theaters on December 25.

Silver Linings Playbook was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 30, 2013, by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Reception

Silver Linings Playbook earned $443,003 in its opening weekend from 16 locations, facing strong competition from films including Skyfall and Lincoln. Expanding to 367 locations in its second week, the film moved to ninth place with $4.4 million. By December 30, it was showing at 745 theaters and had earned $27.3 million. On January 18, 2013, it earned $12.7 million when it expanded to 2,523 theaters, which boosted its total to $56.7 million. In its second weekend of playing in over 2500 theaters, its sales declined by 12.2%. Gitesh Pandya stated that it was well on its way to reaching the $100 million mark and could go much higher if it remained durable over the weeks.

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