Silver Linings Playbook

http://silverliningsplaybookmovie.com/

As a fan of both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence I was looking forward to seeing Silver Linings Playbook as soon as I saw the trailer for it a couple of months ago. 

The film tells the story of Pat (Bradley Cooper), who was diagnosed bipolar and admitted to a mental health facility following the breakdown of his marriage. We meet him just as he is being released from the facility to the care of his parents, although Pat is unwilling to come to terms with the fact that his marriage is over. Whilst rebuilding his life, Pat becomes friends with Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a depressed young woman who is unconventionally coming to terms with being made a widow by sleeping with everyone in her office, causing her to lose her job. Tiffany persuades Pat to join her in a dance competition by promising him she will pass messages onto his estranged wife, but is she looking for more than a dance partner?

I must admit that I not only really enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook but I also found it quite a refreshingly sweet natured film with very little swearing and no sex scenes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good love scene as much as the next girl, but sometimes it's nice for a film to be the kind of film you could take your mum to see. Bearing in mind the fact that film also stars Robert De Niro, I think a lot of people will be surprised to see that this is such a tame film in terms of the lack of swearing and violence.

The only issues I had with Silver Linings is that it could have been funnier, and it is a tad on the predictable side, but neither of these niggles affected my overall opinion or enjoyment of the film. Cooper, Lawrence and De Niro - who I have never been a fan of - all put in solid performances and you find it very easy to like the characters they play, genuinely caring what happens to them. 

If you like your rom coms to come with honest dialogue and a backdrop of emotional problems, but ultimately to have a warm heart, then you'll like this one a lot. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 4th December 2012

UK Release Date - 21st November 2012

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Pat

Jennifer Lawrence ~ Tiffany

Robert De Niro ~ Pat Snr

Jacki Weaver ~ Dolores

Chris Tucker ~ Danny

Anupam Kher ~ Dr Cliff Patel

John Ortiz ~ Ronnie

Shea Whigham ~ Jake

Julia Stiles ~ Veronica

Director ~ David O Russell

Writer(s) ~ David O Russell (Screenplay) and Matthew Quick (Novel) 

New Year's Eve

http://newyearsevemovie.warnerbros.com/index.html

How's this for a strange twist of fate? My last movie review of 2011 (I know it's now 2012 but this is my last review of a film I saw in 2011) is New Year's Eve, and I saw it on the last day of 2011, New Year's Eve.

I knew from the moment I saw the trailer that despite the film looking like it might be terrible, I would end up seeing this with one of my best girl friends. And I did, during my Christmas break up to the north west of England.

The film, as you might have guessed, is set on New Year's Eve in one of the most spectacular locations for a New Year's Eve movie to be set, New York City. As Stan Harris says at one point in the trailer, "nothing beats New York on New Year's Eve". We have the ball dropping at Times Square, two pregnant women dropping at a nearby hospital, midnight kisses, chance encounters, rock stars, a dying man's last wish and one night to make all your new year's resolutions come true. The star studded cast take you on a whirlwind journey of New York on New Year's Eve.

I must admit that after my cinema buddy saw it and told me how terrible it was I was not holding out any high expectations for New Year's Eve. And I did think that it would pass by without me getting to see it. But a well timed showing fit with our plans and et voila, New Year's Eve on New Year's Eve actually happened. And you know what? It wasn't all that bad. 

Sure the cast is ridiculous. You thought there were a lot of famous people in Valentines Day or New York I Love You? Well that's nothing compared to this. I don't think I've seen a cast list this long since Harry Potter. And to be honest, it's unnecessary. Some of these roles could have been given to unknown actors or lesser known character actors and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference to the film, other than you wouldn't be playing 'spot the celebrity' every time the scene changed. I'm not saying anyone is particularly bad, it's just overkill on the famous actor front.

The thing that is most obvious, with all these famous types running around and with so many story changes, is that very few of the actors have chemistry. Not really through any fault of their own but they have so little time to become acquainted with one-another that it's hard to build rapport and in turn, chemistry. I also find it unbelievable that Ashton Kutcher would be best friends with Zac Efron or that Zac Efron would even contemplate snogging Michelle Pfeiffer (especially as the latter looks so haggard in this film). 

But you are right in thinking I said that this film wasn't all that bad. And it really wasn't. It was a light, fluffy, not too demanding film that kept me entertained for the 2 hours it was on. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 31st December 2011

UK Release Date - 8th December 2011

Cast Overview:

Halle Berry ~ Nurse Aimee

Jessica Biel ~ Tess Byrne

Jon Bon Jovi ~ Jensen

Abigail Breslin ~ Hailey

Chris "Ludacris" Bridges ~ Brendan

Robert De Niro ~ Stan Harris

Josh Duhamel ~ Sam

Zac Efron ~ Paul

Hector Elizondo ~ Kominsky

Cary Elwes ~ Stan's Doctor

Katherine Heigl ~ Laura

Ashton Kutcher ~ Randy

Seth Meyers ~ Griffin Byrne

Alyssa Milano ~ Nurse Mindy

Lea Michele ~ Elise

Sarah Jessica Parker ~ Kim

Michelle Pfeiffer ~ Ingrid

Hilary Swank ~ Claire Morgan

Director ~ Garry Marshall

Writer ~ Katherine Fugate

Limitless

http://www.iamrogue.com/limitless

For those of you who know me, you will know that writing this review is the first real test of my ability to remain professional in the face of undoubted favoritism. Can I be objective about a film when I openly lust after the male lead? This test will be applied again when Source Code comes out on the 1st April. Only that will be an even bigger test than this, seeing as my love for Jakey goes above and beyond my love of anyone else.

But for now we're talking about my love of Bradley, err, what I meant to say is that we're talking about Limitless.

Limitless is based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. This is a well known book but one which I was not aware of until the first rumblings about the movie adaptation were being discussed back in the early part of 2008. At this time Shia LaBeouf was attached to star, but then he broke his hand in the infamous car crash/DUI of the summer of 2008 and The Dark Fields movie had to find itself a new star. Enter Bradley Cooper. Fresh from the success of The Hangover and The A Team, Cooper took on the lead role of Eddie Morra and also bagged himself a producer credit on the film. He's also responsible for the addition of Robert De Niro to the cast as he pitched the film to De Niro himself.

The story is told from Eddie's perspective, a struggling writer who is given an experimental drug which allows him to access 100% of his brain. This allows him to finish his book in 4 days, a book he's been trying to write for years. It also allows him to absorb information at an alarming rate, he learns languages and instruments in a matter of days and figures out very quickly how to play the stock market. But his body can only handle so much and eventually he starts to feel the ill effects of the drug and has to make a life altering decision.

I can't vouch for whether the film is loyal to the book as I haven't read the book. However, I can say that the direction of film, while impressive in the way it puts you in Eddie's mindset, also enduces a certain amount of queasyness with it's fast fowarding through time and upside downside angles. I can also say that having now seen the movie I have a hard time picturing Shia LaBeouf in this role. I'm not sure whether that's thanks to Bradley making it his own or just the fact that the script demands an older actor? I'm not sure if the script was re-worked for Bradley when Shia dropped out but with an 11 year age gap between them it's not as if they vie for similar roles.

Leaving my bias at the door I must say that I thought Bradley did a really great job. Eddie is not the most likable character and yet through the use of the Cooper charm he becomes someone that you root for, hoping that things end well for him. He really does carry this movie, even with support from De Niro this is Bradley's film and kudos to him for holding the audience's attention for the duration whilst also holding his own against an acting heavyweight. 

It's not going to win any awards but Limitless is entertaining and well acted. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 23rd March 2011

UK Release Date - 23rd March 2011

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Eddie Morra

Robert De Niro ~ Carl Van Loon

Abbie Cornish ~ Lindy

Anna Friel ~ Melissa

Johnny Whitworth ~ Vern

Director ~ Neil Burger

Writer(s) ~ Leslie Dixon (Screenplay) and Alan Glynn (Novel)