Silver Linings Playbook(2012)

Plot Summary

• In 2008, Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health facility into the care of his parents after eight months of treatment for bipolar disorder. During his time there, he forms a close friendship with a fellow patient, Danny (Chris Tucker), who is having legal disputes with the hospital which constantly prevents him from leaving. Pat soon learns that his wife, Nikki, has moved away and his father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), is out of work and resorting to bookmaking to earn money to start a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki, who obtained a restraining order against him after the violent episode that sent him away.While talking to his court-mandated therapist Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher), Pat explains again why he was hospitalized. Coming home early from his high school teaching job, noticing clothes thrown on the floor and his wedding song-Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" playing, he had found Nikki in the shower, with another man. Enraged, he nearly beat the man to death. Despite this, Pat doesn't believe he needs medication to manage his condition.At dinner with his friend Ronnie, he meets Ronnie's sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recent widow who also just lost her job. Pat and Tiffany develop an odd friendship through their shared neuroses (Tiffany is a "easy" woman who slept with everyone at her office after her husband's death, when she accused her boss of harassment she got fired), and he sees an opportunity to communicate with Nikki through her. Tiffany offers to deliver a letter to Nikki, if in return he will be her partner in an upcoming dance competition. He reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks, with help from Danny, who is eventually released. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to show Nikki he has changed and become a better man. Tiffany gives Pat a typed reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for a reconciliation between them.Things go well for Pat until his father asks him to attend a Philadelphia Eagles game, he has bet virtually all of his money on, as a "good-luck charm". Pat skips practice with Tiffany to attend the game but is dragged into a fight with racist thugs attacking his psychiatrist and brother and is hauled away by police. The Eagles lose the game and Pat Sr. is furious. Tiffany arrives, berates Pat, and points out that the way she "reads the signs", the Eagles do better when she and Pat are together, as they won every game they played on occasions when Pat and Tiffany spent time together.Pat Sr., now convinced that Pat being with Tiffany is actually good luck, makes a parlay with his gambling friend that if the Eagles win their game against Dallas, and if Pat and Tiffany score at least a 5 out of 10 in their dance competition, he will win back all the money he lost on the first bet. Pat is reluctant to participate in the dance contest under those conditions; however, Tiffany and Pat's father decide to persuade Pat by lying to him to say Nikki will be there. In the meantime, Pat, who has isolated himself from everyone, begins to read the letter from Nikki again and notices that the phrase Tiffany had used earlier "reading the signs" appears in the letter.Pat, Tiffany, and everyone else arrive at the competition on the night of the football game. Tiffany is horrified to discover that Nikki is in the audience. Pat finds Tiffany, who has been drinking with a man who was trying to pick her up, and manages to coax her onto the dance floor, where they perform their routine. As they dance, the Eagles win their game and at the conclusion of their set, they score exactly 5 points: Pat and Tiffany are elated.Amid cheers from his family and confused looks from the crowd, Pat approaches Nikki and speaks quietly into her ear. Tiffany storms off. Pat leaves Nikki behind after only a short conversation, intent on finding Tiffany. Pat Sr. informs him that Tiffany left and tells him that she loves him right now and that it will be a sin if he doesn't reach out to this moment that life has given him. Pat tells his father that he loves him, then chases after Tiffany and tells her he knows she forged Nikki's letter. He confesses he has loved her from the moment he met her but has taken a long time to realize it and they kiss. They become a couple, and Pat Sr. opens a restaurant with the money he has won.

Storyline

• Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr., caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland mental health institution after his minimum eight-month court ordered stint. The condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Nikki has since left him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication (which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life. His goals are to get his old job back as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are certain instances where he doesn't cope well; however, no less so than some others who have never been institutionalized, such as his Philadelphia Eagles obsessed father who has resorted to being a bookie to earn a living, his best friend Ronnie who quietly seethes over the control wielded by his wife Veronica, and Veronica's widowed sister, Tiffany Maxwell, a girl with problems of her own. In their fragile mental states, Pat Jr. and Tiffany embark on a love/hate friendship based primarily on what help the other can provide in achieving their individual goals. But they may reevaluate their goals as their relationship progresses. — Huggo After a violent episode sparked by losing his house, his job, and his wife in quick succession, a man (Cooper) is released from a state institution and moves back in with his mother (Weaver) and father (De Niro). He resolves to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife. When he meets a mysterious girl (Lawrence, in an Oscar-winning performance) with problems of her own, things get complicated. More than anything, charming but volatile former high school teacher Pat Solitano wants to reclaim his life and wife, get back on track, and adjust to life outside the psychiatric hospital. Of course, living with your parents when you've lost everything complicates matters. And a strict restraining order doesn't help either. As the unpredictable ex-inmate gives his all to embrace change and wipe the slate clean after an eight-month stint in a mental health institution, Pat enlists the help of broken soul Tiffany Maxwell to reunite with his unattainable spouse. But when two damaged people cross paths and emotions get in the way, how easy is it to find life's hidden silver linings? — Nick Riganas After spending time in a mental institution, a middle-aged male does his best to clean up his life by trying to find a job and reunite with his former partner. Along the way, he meets and bonds with a troubled female who completely understands what he is going through. — RECB3 1 more All