Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Your (Almost) Typical Messed-Up Family Gets All 4 Acting Nominations at the Academy Awards

Silver Linings Playbook is the Oscar-winning cake you get when you mix the following ingredients: Harvey Weinstein's production skills, David O. Russell's directing technique, and a terrific multi-generational cast (from Robert De Niro to the thrilling comeback of Chris Tucker). Today being the US-release of the DVD, I had to celebrate by reviewing this universally acclaimed movie. This story adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick has already helped and will help so many misfits. Unlike most of the audience, I don't think the characters portrayed in this movie are nuts. I found a lot of myself in both Pat (Bradley Cooper) and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who have just been damaged by life. SLP is a simple story about families and the constant struggle it is to maintain relationships. O. Russell focuses on many kinds of relationships. From parenting to friendship, love, or sibling tension: whatever your problem is, you will find an answer in SLP. I adore the O. Russell technique that reveals his actors' talent. The movie was nominated in all 4 acting categories at the Academy Awards which hadn't happened in 31 years. Jacki Weaver does a mean Philadelphian accent. Robert De Niro in the role of a father with affection and addiction issues is captivating. Weirdly enough, Cooper and Lawrence is an on-screen couple that works. I actually forgot that she is too young for the role because she delivers such an intense performance. She is the only one who came back home with a well-deserved Oscar. I was delighted by Cooper's radical mood swings or Lawrence's defying monologue to De Niro's face. It's a pleasure to see Tucker as Pat's friend from the institution and Julia Stiles as Tiffany's control freak of a sister (and now we can all agree that Stiles is a much better dancer than Lawrence). SLP will speak to the common folk because you can relate to the characters. It is about family issues, coping with loss, football, addiction, dancing like 'dad at prom', and fitting in. Silver Linings Playbook is about life.

1 reason to watch: If you find yourself misunderstood by your relatives, this will give you hope and give them insight.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

The unfortunate meeting of an oddly-tattooed biking Ryan Gosling and the tortured rookie cop Bradley Cooper.

Derek Cianfrance strikes again with The Place Beyond the Pines. After releasing his masterpiece Blue Valentine, an analysis of the natural evolution of the on-screen couple Gosling-Williams, Cianfrance worked with his friend and acting muse Gosling for this story on 2 father-and-son relationships. Gosling is Luke, a stunt biker for a nomad amusement park. When he learns he had a son from a previous one-night-stand with Eva Mendes' character, he quits and tries to do his best to help raising the kid. Even if this implies robbing a few banks on the way. On one of his illegal rides, he crosses the path of rookie cop Bradley Cooper who will put an end to it all... Let's talk about the stunning cast for a minute. Luke will certainly become soon enough the idol of a generation like De Niro's Taxi Driver back in the day. With his odd tattoos, special skills and strong will to change his life for his son, it is again a truly intense and honest portrayal worthy of Gosling's talent. Eva Mendes has rarely been so true and raw: we definitely want to see more of her in such roles. Bradley Cooper doesn't stop surprising us either. After Silver Linings Playbook and his remarkable role as Pat, this is yet another milestone in his career. Let's hope he will stop acting in rubbish Hollywood blockbusters like The Hangover and stick to roles worthy of his skills. Derek Cianfrance is an astonishing director. Dealing with real-life topics and minimizing the glamor of his actors to focus on emotions, he's definitely one of the best things that has happened to 21st-century US cinema. His shots are often genius but simple. He doesn't rush or complicate plots and leaves an open door to improvisation. Cianfrance's tales are never intricate: he bases the development of his movies on his characters' psychology and behavior. Whoever said that 'less is more' was probably talking about such movies.

1 reason to watch: Derek Cianfrance's epic long takes