The Silver Linings Playbook: My Review
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Let me first start with my adoration for Bradley Cooper. I’ve loved him ever since he played the meek Will on ABCs Alias. He was adorable and just this side of geeky as a character, and I thought he was perfect.
When I saw that he was starring in The Silver Linings Playbook opposite Jennifer Lawrence (who I think is fabulous ever since seeing her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games), I was beyond excited to see the movie.
As is normal, I then realized it was a book first. My friend, K — the avid reader — said she was reading the book and loving it. So, naturally I had to follow suit. Plus, I’m always the read-the-book-before-seeing-the-movie advocate.
The book is, in a word, fabulous. I loved the way that I was immediately thrown into the action. Pat, the main character and narrator, is in a mental institution, and his mother is there to “break him out.” But he doesn’t just say this. Instead, he tells us that he sees her painted toenails while he’s on the ground working out and thus discovers that she has arrived to get him.
His story unfolds, and we learn that something very bad has happened to make him and his wife, Nikki, have what Pat calls, “apart time.” His sole goal is to better himself so that when apart time is over, he and Nikki can be reunited. One of the ways he decides to do this is to exercise and lose all the weight that he’s certain was the reason she began to want to be away from him. In fact, he’s incessant with his workouts. He runs 10 miles a day and does hundreds of sit-ups.
Then, he meets Tiffany who is equally as disturbed since the loss of her police officer husband, Tommy. Pat and Tiffany are introduced at a dinner party at Tiffany’s sister, Veronica’s, house. (Veronica happens to be married to Pat’s best friend, Ronnie.)
The rest of the characters complement Pat’s “crazy”: his ever-crying mother, his aloof father, and his supportive brother.
I finished the book in one day (with three kids running around, mind you) because it was so awesome. Naturally, I rented the movie that night because I just had to see these characters come to life on the big screen.
Without ruining the entire experience, let me just say that I spent the first thirty minutes or so of the movie doing what I always do to movies that were made from books: I analyzed, grinned, compared, contrasted. I bit my tongue to keep from telling my husband too much about the differences.
I was a little disappointed. Now, the movie was good. I enjoyed it. But, there were enough differences from the original novel that I was somewhat speechless and beside myself. The story from the book was so great, and I expected to see an exact (or somewhat close to exact) representation. I didn’t.
My suggestion: read the book. Wait a long time. Then, watch the movie. I think if I hadn’t read and watched on the same day, I’d have dealt with it better. Each was great in its own right, and I understand that movies can’t always be exactly what was in a book.
So, go read the book. Go see the movie. Just understand that there is a distinct difference between the two.
