Review: Silver Linings Playbook, Page to Screen.

“If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying.” 

As both a film and literature student, I'm always intrigued by page to screen adaptations, and I usually like to read the book before seeing the big screen version. This time, I first heard about Silver Linings Playbook because I'm a huge Jennifer Lawrence fan and after seeing the trailer I was immediately hooked on the storyline and the characters, but I knew I wouldn't have the time to read the book beforehand. So after seeing the film adaptation back in November, I couldn't wait to read the book, and I'm so glad that I did.

Throughout the film I thought that Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper both did an amazing job at portraying mental health issues, but this definitely came across much stronger in the book. As it's written from Pat's point of view, his character is developed a lot more than it is in the film version, and you really go through his whole journey of recovery with him. I like the way that it doesn't glamourise or gloss over the issue of mental health, it's really covered in full detail and shows how disabling it can be, that it isn't romantic or beautiful. I also think that the way that certain narrative elements were revealed were a lot more effective than in the film. In the book, a couple of key details aren't revealed until almost the very end, and if I hadn't already known what happened from seeing the film, it would have been very shocking, and it was still extremely powerful. Pat and Tiffany's relationship is given a lot more depth on page as well, in the film it seems slightly superficial and a typical 'rom com' relationship, in the book it is what it is: a relationship between two very troubled people. The way that it's written is much purer, and engages you much more, in my opinion. Matthew Quick has a really beautiful way with words and I always love a book with quotes that stay in my mind long after I've finished reading, and Silver Linings Playbook certainly didn't disappoint in that department!

“In my arms is a woman who has given me a Skywatcher's Cloud Chart, a woman who knows all my secrets, a woman who knows just how messed up my mind is, how many pills I'm on, and yet she allows me to hold her anyway. There's something honest about all this, and I cannot imagine any other woman lying in the middle of a frozen soccer field with me - in the middle of a snowstorm even - impossibly hoping to see a single cloud break free of a nimbostratus.”

On the other hand, I'm so pleased with all of the Academy Award nominations that this film received. The academy is notoriously snobby with the type of films it considers, and I didn't think that Silver Linings Playbook would even stand a chance, especially in the 'Best Picture' category. Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper both deserve the awards they've been nominated for, in my opinion, more than anyone else in their respective categories. Unlike a lot of films nominated for the Oscars, this one covers something real. It isn't political, or historical, and it isn't a case of the actors just portraying something that's already happened, or something without real substance. So many people are affected by mental health issues, and for Cooper and Lawrence to pull it off so well is a sign of pure brilliance.

Thanks for reading,

Tilly.

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