Best Picture #2: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012)

It's a risky move to try to make a Hollywood romantic comedy about mental illness, but that is what David O. Russell has done with Silver Linings Playbook.  Movies like this always run the risk of being either too contrived or too maudlin, especially when dealing with something as complex and personal as bipolar disorder.  Russell and his cast have masterfully avoided this pitfall.  Like CrazyStupidLove, it tells a story that's as contrived as any romantic comedy has ever been, but it's better because it takes its subject matter seriously.  And its cast is nothing less than superb.

Pat (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental institution to the custody of his parents (Jacki Weaver and Robert De Niro).  Relentlessly positive, he hopes to get himself into good mental health right away so he can repair his relationship with his wife Nikki (Brea Bee), who currently has a restraining order against him.  He's an all-too-common case who thinks he has everything figured out, although everyone around him knows he still needs help.  Trouble is, his environment may not be the most conducive to his mental health.  Dad is an obsessive-compulsive bookie and often blames Pat when his football team loses.  Mom is a trooper who's doing her best to keep everything in order, but her control is constantly tested.

Then he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), the younger sister of a friend.  Tiffany has also struggled with depression, and has recently lost her husband.  She inserts herself into his life, sometimes by force.  Pat resists, but when Tiffany offers to relay messages to Nikki for him, so long as he agrees to help her in several ways.  This gives him the drive to make himself better, but he soon begins to discover what's really important to him.

We can foresee the movie's conclusion right from the start, and it's to the actors' and director's credit that it doesn't seem forced.  Russell, who is not one to succumb to the Hollywood formula, lends authenticity to the screenplay, even when the plot takes it to some fairly familiar places (key set pieces take place at a football game and, climactically, a dance contest).

Cooper hits just the right note as a likable character with a violent past who we'd like to see get better.  De Niro is perfect as a goodhearted father who just doesn't realize when he's being a bad influence.  As the penitent mom and wife, Weaver exudes maternal nobility.  Chris Tucker is hilarious as a former roommate of Pat's who often turns up unexpected.  Anupam Kher is particularly memorable as Pat's psychiatrist, the kind of person who is a staunch and reliable authority but isn't above painting his face for a football game.

Lawrence steals the show.  The character of Tiffany is risky territory, as characters of this type usually end up as magical pixie girls who exist for no reason other than to rescue the hero.  Thanks to Lawrence's performance, Tiffany is a flesh-and-blood character who is understandably offended and repulsed with Pat at first, but grows to understand and love him.  Because Lawrence and Cooper are believable, we follow them into everything the overwritten plot throws at them.  Still only 22, this is Lawrence's second nomination for Best Actress, and it is the second time she deserves to win.

*** 1/2 out of ****