I liked the movie and awful lot. I can see myself watching this endlessly on cable this summer. However, as soon as the credits rolled, Sean looked at me and said "THAT is an Oscar movie?". I have trained my husband well as I don't think it is an Oscar movie either. It is a very good movie, but when we are talking about Oscars, it just didn't meet that criteria. The only performance I can see and understand being nominated is Jennifer Lawrence. She was fantastic and I personally think she is taking home the Oscar for this role.
Now onto the sticky wicket I call Bradley Cooper.
Some of you will know that I have some problem with him. I don't like him. Don't get me wrong, I love to look at him. I LOVE IT. And I think he is perfect for those Hangover movies. There is something about him that I find disingenuous. During his "big" scene in Silver Linings where everyone one is running around freaking out in the middle of the night... I found myself concentrating on him and thinking "I don't buy it". It all seemed very acting school to me.
And now is where I am probably going to catch some flack. I also didn't like Robert DeNiro's performance either in this movie. And I love Robert DeNiro. During his "big" scene in the movie, I really felt like he was phoning it in.... whipping up some tears because tears were required. His performance left me seriously wanting as I know he can bring it.
I am luke warm about this movie and everyone in it, EXCEPT Jennifer Lawrence.
I still stick to my original thoughts about being confused on why this is classified as a Rom-Com. Yeah, I get that they end up together but I feel it was pigeon-holed weirdly. I love Bradely Cooper so much I found 0 flaws in his performance. :) Just kidding. I can see why you'd feel it flat in some places but I do think his scenes of crazed focus were right on the money and I couldn't agree MORE about DeNiro's teary scene.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did really like, other than Jennifer Lawrence who was indeed flawless, is the few scenes where the family dynamic instantly explodes into chaos due to the actions of the one family member too self-absorbed/nuts to even notice the havoc he's wreaking. More of this, explored honestly, would have added that Oscar-worthy feel I think we all agree is lacking. Over all I quite liked it and after viewing the SAG awards understand why this is in the pack. There were NOT a lot of great cinematic offerings in 2012.
Is it a 2012 Oscar movie... because the threshold was much different last year.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen it yet, BTW, but I'm starting to think that J-Law is going to win... despite the fact that I would much rather see Chastain win....as a Take Shelter/Zero Dark 30 combo.
I agree with your review - Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic. I also thought Chris Tucker stole the scenes he was in, too. My biggest complaint is how every character in the movie, "the whole gang" if you will, all showed up at the dance competition. The cop? Really? The psychiatrist? Again? That gave it a bit of a screwball feel that detracted from the picture for me.
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