Of all the
movies nominated for the Academy Awards this year, this is one that has got 8
nominations. But mind you. Unlike its counterparts, it has got 8
nominations in all major categories – Motion Picture of the Year, Directing,
Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing &
Adapted Screenplay!!!
I for one cannot
remember too many movies who have received eight major nominations!!! The list
can be counted on your finger tips. Silver
Linings Playbook will be the 11th such movie. The good news, each one of those movies has
won at least one Academy Award. Whether
SLP will win more remains to be seen.
To all of this,
add David O Russell’s recent track record.
2 wins and 5 other nominations for The Fighter (2011). If it hadn’t been for Daniel Day Lewis, I would
have been tempted to stick my neck out and call an 4 on 4 for SLP in the acting
categories. And if there is a nomination
that has been missed out, it was cinematography.
Adapted from
Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel of the same name, SLP is the story of Pat (Bradley
Cooper) who has just come out of a correctional facility in Baltimore. He had been sentenced to 8 months psychiatric
care for beating up the history teacher from his wife’s school. You see, the history teacher was with his
wife. In the shower. Naked.
On his return, he
wants to make good with his wife but a restraining order prevents him from
coming within 500 ft. of her. He also meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has
just lost her husband and is recovering from depression that led her to be a
sex maniac of sorts. Quite an
interesting concoction right?
Add to this
melee, a father – Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) who is equally crazy and has anger
management issues. One can only but feel
pity for the mother – Dolores (Jacki Weaver) who seems to be the only sane one
in this entire mess.
The hallmark of
SLP would be in the performances as mentioned earlier. Robert De Niro is my bet for the supporting
actor this year. Ditto for Jacki
Weaver. Bradley Cooper is stunning but I
am not so certain if the academy will tilt towards him. That leaves us with Jennifer Lawrence and the
word that comes to mind – revelation.
SLP joins a list
of 41 movies and the only one this year to have been nominated for the Big 5 at
the Academy awards. It is a stunning example of how the best things in life are
probably the simplest as well. Straight
forward storyline i.e. a love story but with some simple twists and executed
brilliantly.
A fabulous
example of how one can get accolades galore by sticking to the basic elements of
cinema. Keep the story simple. Get your casting right. Ensure that you pay attention to detail. One of the best movies released in 2012. In my books Argo was a little better. But only a little. 8 on 10.
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