The Silver Linings Playbook

A very real, humorous and touchingly sad depiction of Bipolar; a very tough mental illness that I've rarely seen on the screen. Great topic and some good twists; a true emotional rollercoaster involving humour, sadness and excellent portrayals of the illness and the loved ones who must also find a way to deal with such a difficult affliction. Having had personal and veritable experience with this mental health issue in a friend, I can say that Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence gave noteworthy Oscar performances, their best yet! As parents of Pat (Cooper), I could feel the frustration, hurt, angst and fear of DeNiro and Jacki Weaver. They were both heartfelt and so real that at one point, DeNiro's tears put a tear in my eye. This movie surprised me as I was not expecting such great things. Superb job by Director David Russell and Writer Mathew Quick. The audience laughed, inbetween long periods of silence and some clapped at the end as I did. We need to see more portrayals of mental health so that it is less stigmatized in society and we may even be able to find the humour in it as a survival technique. The world is only getting faster and harder and depression alone has skyrocketed. Mental health knows no bounds and we must remember that people who are affected are not their illness. They too can experience silver linings!