Little Shop of Horrors

If you’re looking for a fun, kooky musical with a taste for blood, Little Shop of Horrors might be exactly what you need. Based off an off Broadway musical, the film stars Rick Moranis as the poor, nerdy Seymour, and Ellen Greene as Audrey his coworker-crush, this story of a strange plant at a flower shop on Skid Row quickly wormed its way into my heart and has become a staple for my family, especially during the Halloween season. 

When Seymour finds a unique plant and brings it back to the flower shop he works at, it begins to draw in new customers. But while the money flows, Seymour learns that the plant, he names Audrey II, needs something special to grow healthy and strong: blood. With a few drops from a pricked finger, Audrey II grows and grows, but soon the plant needs more, driving sweet Seymour to find fresh blood. But no one would miss that jerk sadistic dentist (Steve Martin) dating Audrey, right? 

The absolute best part of this movie is seeing Audrey II in action. Some of the designers and puppeteers who brought Audrey II to life were members of the Jim Henson company. The plant puppets range from small enough to fit in the actors’ hands to so gigantic they take up most of the room in the flower shop. And they amp up the personality with each growth. The huge Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs) singing and scaring Seymour is one of the best treats of the film.

This film is toe tapping fun from start to finish. Boasting some comedic genius from Steve Martin and Bill Murray (their only film together), they make the most out of one unforgettable scene. The film earned 2 Oscar nominations, best visual effects and best original song for Mean Green Mother from Outer Space. Keep an eye out whether you’re watching the theatrical version or Frank Oz’s director’s cut, the endings are wildly different but both so fun and perfect in their own ways.

“I’m just a mean green mother from outer space and I’m bad!”

Ready or Not

Delightfully twisted, uproariously violent and so very satisfying. Ready or Not the kind of horror movie that is not looking to win any big awards or boast about an all-star cast. Instead, it’s perfectly happy being the outrageous, fun, twisted thrill at the theater. That is what makes it so great, and I loved it.

It’s Grace (Samara Weaving) and Alex’s wedding day. After the lovely ceremony at the La Domas’ huge family mansion, they have a little tradition to initiate new members into the family. Since great granddad Victor made his fortune in the board game market, they always come together at midnight to play a game. Alex (Mark O’Brien) eases Graces mind that it could just be a quick game of checkers and then off to bed. One brother-in-law laments that he had to play Old Maid. With all the family gathered around the game table, Victor’s game kills watching over, Grace pulls a card reading Hide and Seek. Innocent enough, Grace thinks. However, everyone but Grace knows what this really means: When they find her, they have to kill her.

While they’re all passing out the weapons that hang all over great grandpa Victor’s game room, Grace is innocently hiding, annoyed that this is how she’s spending her wedding night. But soon, as Alex is trying to clue her into the real game, the blood starts splattering. What should have been a blissful wedding night soon becomes a night of blood and terror at the hands of Grace’s new in-laws. 

Part of the fun in this movie is the array of characters in the La Domas family. Alex seems to be the only normal one, followed closely by his often drunk older brother, Daniel (Adam Brody) and his obvious gold digger wife. Fitch (Kristian Bruun) has his moments, sometimes playing around on his phone when he’s supposed to be looking for Grace. The coke-snorting sister-in-law’s friendly fire is both horrific and hilarious, only to be topped by how the creepy great-aunt finishes those poor maids off. And the butler with his love of the 1812 Overture was one of my favorite parts. 

The movie feels like directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had so much fun. They give us a classic dark and creepy labyrinth of a mansion full of murderous in-laws and one scared but determined bad-ass bride and just let the bullets, blood, tea kettles and battle axes fly. While there were some elements that almost seemed cliche (of course there’s a dumbwaiter involved), there is a lot that is surprising and fresh. And best of all, to make it a worthy horror flick, there are some wonderfully suspenseful moments that keep the audience on edge and thoroughly entertained. 

“You’ll have to hide better than that.”

Oh, and I’d like this song to be considered by the Academy for best original song. It will also be added to my Halloween playlist. Enjoy!

Modern Times

Though Modern Times was made in the mid 1930s, many of its themes and situations are just as relevant today as they were back then.  Men are still slaves to machines in more than just the workplace.  We strive to keep up with the latest, fastest technology, though these days our machines are much smaller.  And earning a living is still not easy to come by or easy to keep.  Much of the working class is still toiling and scraping by working to make the machines of industry turn.  

In the film, Charlie Chaplin plays a factory worker.  His job is to mindlessly tighten bolts on a conveyor belt assembly line.  The work is fast paced and makes for some great gags, some of the most memorable scenes in the film.  After the worker suffers a nervous breakdown and is released without a job, he accidentally gets in a union protest parade and arrested for being a communist leader.  His time in jail is peaceful and happy once he wins over the guards.  Being released back into society, with no job or home is tough and he tries to get back in jail.  But a young girl (Paulette Goddard) trying to make it on her own helps him make another try in these harsh modern times.

There is a wonderful daydream scene in the film that inspires the worker to get back to work when he and the girl are down on their luck.  He imagines owning a cozy little home with the girl.  There is comfy furniture, a big piece of meat in the skillet, ripe grapes to pick right out the door and a cow that walks up and automatically dispenses fresh milk. Everyone has their pie in the sky fantasies of the American dream, and this one is more sweet than outlandish.

My favorite scene in the film is testing out the feeding machine.  With the feeding machine, workers will not have to stop working to eat their lunch.  To keep up production, the machine will feed them, brilliant!  Our innocent Trampy worker is the guinea pig for the machine and can’t move as the machine pushes bites of food into his mouth and malfunctions splashing soup all over him.  When the rotating corn cob feeder goes haywire and spins against his face so hard it must have nearly rubbed off his iconic mustache, I laughed much more than I expected. The whole scene is hilarious and wonderful fun.

What Modern Times is to me is Chaplin’s commentary on where he thought the world was heading.  Henry Ford’s assembly line was still a new concept and the depression was leaving men desperate to do any work they could.  Tensions over unions made work even harder to find and less secure.  Too much industrialization was making men lose their individuality and become parts of the machines.  How wonderful that Chaplin didn’t have to say a word to convey that idea, he just needed an image of a man moving along the massive gears and still bent on tightening those nuts.  

“Hey you!  Get back to work!”

 

The Croods

When The Croods first came out, I dismissed it, afraid it would only live up to its silly, barbaric name.  But I gave it a shot later, after its Oscar nomination for best animated feature and was happily surprised.  The film is a fun family comedy about growth and adaptation that has potential to become a classic.

The Croods are a family of six cavemen, perhaps the last of the cavemen since all their neighbors died in some prehistoric way (like being stomped by a mammoth).  They have survived because they’re extra cautious, a trait patriarc Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage) continually teaches his family.  For days they will stay cooped up in their cave and come out only to hunt.  While this lifestyle is safest, teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone) longs for more.  The fact that she is full of curiosity (a trait that her father warns will get you killed) makes her long days in the cave worse.

When Eep follows a strange new light outside the cave one night, she meets Guy (Ryan Gosling).  He warns her that something he calls the end is coming.  As soon as Eep is in trouble for leaving the cave, the end arrives; a huge earthquake destroying the family’s beloved cave.  Suddenly, they are thurst into a new world on the other side of the rocks, full of colorful creatues, lush jungles and new dangers to discover.  Thankfully, they find Guy again and he helps them survive, adapt and think for themselves.

However, Guy’s arrival is a threat to Grug’s authority.  According to Grug’s tired old stories, everything new is bad and trying anything new will result in death.  Being thrust into a world where everything is new and their newest member has inventive tricks to help them survive quickly has Grug’s family trusting in Guy.  Annoying as he is to Grug, eventually they will have to learn to work together in order to survive.

Once we are into act two of the film, where the family is in new and unfamiliar territory, everything suddenly becomes so lively and colorful.  There are red birds that devour animals like locus, a tiger that seems like an overgrown rainbow cat and giant carniverous flowers, just to name a few treats.  It’s all very eyecatching and delightful, even if it’s doubtful that such creatures ever existed.

The hunting scenes are especially enjoyable and show the family members roles.  They work together like a team, flipping a coin to see if eager Eep will make the first run or the clumbsy, reluctant son, Thunk (Clark Duke).  It’s easy to see Grug is trying to better prepare his son and is more protective of his daughter.  From the sidelines, Grug directs and cheers his son on, while the mother, daughter, baby and grandmother wait for their turn to run and assist.  In the heat of the chase, the giant egg the family has snatched is tossed like a football, the end zone back at their cave.  And in tense situations their secret weapon, the most primative of the bunch is unleashed, “Release the baby!”  It’s a fun bit of action that let’s us get to know the family and how they work together.

What I believe propelled The Croods into its Oscar nomination was it’s perfect combination of top-level animation and a story with a lesson all ages can enjoy.  While Grug is initially a brute unwilling to change for the safetly of his family, we see that even the most hard-headed caveman has potential in the new world if he is willing to try.

“I was in love once.  He was a hunter, I was a gatherer.  It was quite the scandal.  We fed each other berries, we danced.  Then father bashed him on the head and traded me to your grandfather.”

Frozen

In Disney’s latest animated masterpiece, Elsa (Idina Mezel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are sister princesses in the kingdom of Arendelle.  As little children they are thick as thieves, especially when Anna gets big sister Elsa to use her ice powers to play and build a snowman.  But when one late night snow playtime goes wrong, Anna is seriously injured by Elsa’s power and saved by their parents visiting a clan of magical trolls.  Elsa realizes how powerful and dangerous her abilities are and feels guilty for what happened.  To protect both the girls, their parents decide that Elsa needs to hide her powers and Anna should have all memories of them erased.  For the remainder of their childhood the castle is closed to visitors and Elsa keeps to herself in her room while Anna does not understand why her sister suddenly shut her out.

When Elsa comes of age, she is to become queen and the whole kingdom is invited into their once secluded castle home.  While Anna is excited about the sudden rush of social interaction, Elsa is nervous that her powers, that have only gotten stronger despite trying to repress them, will show and scare her citizens.  Things seem to go well, until Anna asks for Elsa’s blessing in accepting a marriage proposal from Hans (Santino Fontana).  Elsa does not approve of such a rash decision, since Anna and Hans met only hours ago and in the conflict that arises, Elsa’s powers come out in the middle of her coronation ball.  As people start accusing her of sorcery and being a monster, Elsa runs away into the mountains, her ice powers going out of control and unleashing a harsh winter on the kingdom.  Anna takes it upon herself to bring her sister back so she can reverse the winter, but she needs to be careful about the friends she chooses along the way.

I don’t think I have enjoyed the music in an animated film this much since The Lion King.  Rather than a musical obstruction that feels forced in to sell a soundtrack, each song flows into the scenes and expands the plot.  Best of all, they are genuinely enjoyable songs.  Some have quirky and cute lyrics that flow well with the characters.  Do You Want To Build a Snowman is sweet with just enough sadness that grows along with the sisters, while In Summer is a pure hilarious delight of a delusional innocent snowman.  And Let It Go is a wonderful hit that feels like it could be on Broadway and sends our hearts soaring, a perfect contender for best original song.

Not to give away any spoilers, but I love, love, love how Disney has recently taken to showing the importance of love between family, rather than some token prince charming.  Frozen follows Brave’s wonderful example of showing a princess protagonist who takes matters into her own hands and is not saved by a suitor.  As a kid who grew up on the whole slew of Disney’s animated films, this recent trend is refreshing and something I grew up wishing to see.  Now with my own child on the way, I’m overjoyed at the strong young women and family values Frozen shares and plan on adding it to my personal blu-ray collection.

For the newest addition to the Disney princess empire, Frozen is a fantastic film that the whole family can enjoy.  There is a good amount of snowy action and adventure, humor for all ages, male characters that add well to the plot, but aren’t always so charming, and romance that isn’t so mushy.  And it is the perfect film for young girls, especially sisters.  Frozen has been honored with two Oscar nominations: best animated feature and Let It Go for best original song.  But the greatest honor I can give this film, is saying that I have not enjoyed a Disney film (without the aid of Pixar) this much in nearly twenty years.

“The cold never bothered me anyway.”

The Wolf of Wall Street

Scorsese’s latest film, The Wolf of Wall Street is a three hour, fast paced wild ride through a lifestyle filled with gratuitous amounts of sex, drugs, and of course, money.  How lucky we are to be along for the ride!  It’s fun, hilarious and mixes well between all the very dark moments throughout the film.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a real life Wall Street broker turned tycoon.  His beginnings are humble enough, especially after a set back early in his career, but it actually turns into a silver lining where he learns to sell “pink sheet” penny stocks to suckers and make a killing on the commission.  He assembles a team of brokers, who are basically ambitiously greedy men who can sell anybody anything, and starts a company.  It grows from working in an old auto body shop to a big time office building quickly.

The business is mainly a background to all the debauchery and fast living Jordan and his gang get into.  With all their money they seem invincible.  They are able to get and take a copious amount of drugs and drink the finest booze at the nicest beach houses or biggest yachts.  And everywhere these guys go, office, home, parties, you name it, they have women ready and waiting.  There are crazy scenes that make the office look more like a drunken bacchanal than a place of work.  And it’s all laid out with dialogue that would make a sailor cover his ears (through no N-word, though it is referred to as the N-word, it is not said).

So just a small word of caution to those who are a little squeamish about too much sex, drugs or profanity in movies, you might want to sit this one out.  It’s a lot of everything, and tops the charts for the most uses of the F-word.  Some things were edited out to bring the film down from NC-17 to a hard R rating.  It took some slick editing just to make a quick trailer fit for television.

But oh my God, it’s so f–king great!  DiCaprio leads the gang with gusto, lets us into Jordan’s crazy lifestyle and all the ups and downs wonderfully.  I especially love the way he breaks the fourth wall throughout the film.  The style reminds me a bit of Goodfellas.  He gives Jordan so much charisma, despite all his devastating flaws.

Steering the film with DiCaprio is Jonah Hill, as Jordan’s second in command, Donnie Azoff.  Between the look of his character (chubby with dorky glasses and goofy teeth), his body language and everything he says, he is a perfect riot.  He steals so many scenes in the most outrageous ways and always has some witty line to deliver perfectly.  I walked out of the theater convinced that Hill would get an Oscar nomination, and I was right.

The Wolf of Wall Street earned a total of five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and best adapted screenplay.  Martin Scorsese earned his eighth nomination for best director.  Along with Hill’s nomination for best supporting actor, Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for lead actor.

One unforgettable scene is when Jordan and Donnie take an old drug, called lemons.  Since they’re pretty old, they take more than they should, attempting to reach a new high.  Once they kick in, it’s an awful, terrible riot.  No, I don’t find drug abuse funny, but the way DiCaprio and Hill portray such an intense hit is hard not to laugh at, even when Donnie nearly chokes on lunch meat.  And now I can never look at Popeye the same way again

“The year I turned 26 is the head of my own brokerage firm I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.  No, no, no.  My Ferrari was white like Don Johnson’s in Miami Vice, not red.”

Her

As I write this, I am sitting in a local cafe, alone with my laptop, while others around me share long conversations over food or coffee.  Like many characters in Her, I am comfortable being alone in public, so long as I have some electronic device to keep me occupied in my own head.  In Her, you don’t see many people on computers outside their home or office, but with an ear bud in their ear, talking to themselves, carrying on conversations, not with other people, but with computers.  This future (complete with hipster inspired high pants in fashion) does not seem very far from the present many of us are living.

Spike Jonze’s Her tells the story of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), an urban writer going through divorce and suffering from loneliness.  From his work, writing personal letters for other people, we see that he is a guy very in tune with his own emotions.  Right away, we imagine he is very sweet and has a lot to give in relationships.  However, dates don’t go so well for him.  We witness one, thrilled for him as it goes well, only to feel his crushing disappointment when he ends up being rejected.  If that’s the norm for Theodore, it’s hard to blame him for eventually falling for a computer.

That computer operating system, or OS for short, is Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).  As Theodore sets up this operating system, only a couple questions are asked in preference to what sort of voice he’d like to talk to, for example, what was his relationship like with his mother.  From the start, Samantha has a breezy and welcoming personality.  Anyone might enjoy having her in their head, and the way Theodore is so alone, it seems natural that he would bond so well with this voice.  And what makes Samantha so interesting is that she, like any person, is constantly learning, evolving and changing.  The problem is that computers seem to do everything much quicker than humans can even imagine.

Honestly, I really loved this film, mostly because how for days and days after seeing it, my mind keeps wrestling with some of the issues it brings up.  I think about the inability to connect with people and the ability to connect so easily to technology (just as I can do in this cafe).  Disconnect must be normal in this world if people like Theodore are hired to write very personal letters for complete strangers.  The film makes me wonder about the human need for intimacy and how intimacy may not mean the same thing to everyone, including an OS.  And then that leads my mind into wondering how deeply sex, or just physical contact, can define a relationship.  The scene where Samantha brings a sex surrogate into the relationship is a very uncomfortable moment, with the best of intentions, but only brings awkward tears.

Her has been nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, original score, original screenplay and production design.  The Moon Song, a sweet and simple tune by Karen O, is nominated for original song.  I do suggest  giving it a listen and looking over the lyrics, which were written by Jonze.

Now, I know Her is being billed as a comedy, and it does have some hilarious moments, but to me it feels too heavy to really be a comedy.  It feels like a comedy like Kafka wrote comedies.  There is a lot of food for thought sprinkled among light moments and then heavier moments that, in a sense of those who are not  attached to these computers, feel like they may not matter much.  It is hard to describe the specific genre to consider this film.  The phone sex scene and video game scenes had the whole theater rolling, yet there are many heavier scenes where we feel that poor Theodore’s world is just crashing down.  And if Samantha doesn’t help him cope, she is the problem.  Odd and yet so close to home for anyone attached to their devices.

“I feel like I can be anything with you.”

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

When Who Framed Roger Rabbit first came to theaters in 1988, I was three years old.  As far back as I can remember, my family had a copy of the movie on VHS, and it was regularly in the VCR.  There are many scenes I can play back in my memory like a favorite song, complete with cartoon sound effects.  I’ve always loved this movie, but never realized what a technical achievement it was, or that it was my introduction to film noir, for nearly twenty years.

In 1940s Los Angeles, Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is a private detective who used to take cases for toons.  You know, cartoon characters, most of them live in Toon Town, like most Hollywood stars might live in Beverly Hills.  After Eddie does a job taking some incriminating photos of Roger Rabbit’s wife with Marvin Acme the same night that Acme is murdered, Roger becomes the prime suspect.  Ready to sentence him to a dip (which kills toons), is Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), a dark and menacing gargoyle of a villain.  Working with him is a bumbling bunch of toon gangster-like weasels who often lose focus when something funny happens.  When Roger turns to Eddie for help, complete with an alibi for his innocence, the two uncover a plot that could destroy Toon Town and turn LA into the traffic-filled city that it is today.

Roger Rabbit is a unique cartoon character.  Physically, he looks like an odd combination of Mickey Mouse (similar red pants and gloves) and Bugs Bunny (same species).  However, he is a whole different kind of character.  He’s goofy, much more clown like, not very intelligent, makes his living off physical comedy (when he can get his cues right) and surprisingly, his wife is the hottest babe in LA.

Though Jessica Rabbit is a toon in this live action world, she attracts the attention of countless men, not the animated kind.  Her opening scene shows throngs of men anxiously awaiting her next stage performance, the way they’re drooling you wouldn’t expect a toon’s shapely leg to slip through the curtain.  Throughout the film, she is the main source of sex appeal, with all her drawn curves and boob-bouncing timpani sound effects.  Happily, she’s also a strong supporting character and a woman who can take care of herself.  She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way.

At the Oscars, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was nominated for six awards total and ended up winning four, including a special achievement award.  The film was nominated for best cinematography, sound and art direction.  It won awards for sound effects, visual effects and film editing.  The extra award was for the animation director, Richard Williams, in his achievement in creating and directing the animated characters within the film.

Some amazing bits of movie magic in the film happen when the toons interact with the objects around them.  As a kid, I never questioned if the toons were really there or not, it was all so fluid and natural.  I was about twelve before I started trying to figure out how the toons could pick up real life objects.  We see a Donald and Daffy playing pianos, baby Herman smoking a cigar, Roger breaking plates over his head and much more.  To show the toons interact with the things around them, puppets and robots were used in some scenes, and the animation was carefully put over whichever device caused the movement.  In the late 80s, quite a lot of creative ingenuity went into the effects, that could easily be done with computers today.

The greatest moments of the film are when real life characters and toons interact so well.  A saxophonist playing outside the film studio and the booms from Fantasia sweeping around him is flawless and natural.  Baby Herman harasses the woman pushing his buggy, even slapping her butt as she leaves.  It is Eddie’s interactions between Roger and Jessica that really bring the film together.  One of my favorite scenes is when Eddie has to hide Roger after he handcuffed them together.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a wonderfully fun and hilarious film that kids and adults can enjoy together.  This is one of the films that I have only grown to love more since I was a child.  Everyone will get a kick out of all their favorite classic cartoons walking around their real world.  Gags that may have been too childish for adults are much more accessible with Eddie and other adults reacting to them.  Adults have plenty of jokes sprinkled around just for them that are so fluid and flawless the kids won’t feel left out even when the punchline flies right over their head.

“Is that a rabbit in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

The Gold Rush

In 1925, Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush was one of the first feature films to star Chaplin in his Little Tramp role.  Before this time, The Tramp had been established and already well loved, but mostly in short films.  Here, Chaplin not only starred on screen, but he wrote, directed, edited and produced The Gold Rush.  Later when it was re-released in 1942, he also wrote the musical score and the narration.  It’s no wonder this is the film Chaplin hoped he would be most remembered for.

In The Gold Rush, The Little Tramp is in the Alaskan Klondike as The Lone Prospector.  Gold doesn’t seem to be the main concern during the harsh winter, as he stumbles upon a cabin.  He, Big Jim (Mack Swain) and a wanted man, Black Larson (Tom Murray), run some fun gags as they struggle to survive.  The act is wrapped up as abruptly as it began and soon The Lone Prospector is in a snowy boom-town, with eyes for a lovely dance hall girl, Georgia (Georgia Hale).  As usual, she is far out of his league, but to spite an aggressive admirer, Georgia asks “the most deplorable looking tramp in the room” to dance.  The Little Fellow has high hopes for he and Georgia, but there may be a mix of heartbreak and an unexpected rush of luck for them both.

Though this film was silent in 1925, it was re-released in 1942 with a musical soundtrack and a voice-over narration, spoken by Chaplin.  This odd mix of a silent-talkie is what I received from Netflix (which they did not care to mention and claimed was only 69 minutes long, but not every company is perfect).  In the narration, Chaplin not only explains the present situations, but also fills in the dialogue.  I guess this helps the film flow more organically than the stop-and-go of reading in a silent film, but I feel it also detracts from it’s original charm.  I hope to see the original silent version of the film someday for further comparison.

There are many fun and memorable scenes in The Gold Rush.  Many Chaplin fans will recognize the boot-eating scene (complete with a side of spaghetti like shoe strings).  The dancing rolls scene is such a whimsical and wonderful bit that has become legendary in film history.  The Tramp’s wardrobe malfunction while dancing with Georgia is a hilarious gag that embellishes perfectly to the end.  And how he celebrates her accepting his invitation for New Years is one of the most joyous and adorable moments I’ve ever seen on film, perfectly punctuated at the end.

If I had to pick just one favorite scene from The Gold Rush, it would have to be when the cabin is halfway off a cliff.  The Tramp and Big Jim wake up the morning after a snowstorm to an unbalanced feeling, which they both write off hilariously as a hangover.  As they move around the small cabin, they become increasingly aware little by little that something else is off balance.  The whole scene builds both the gag and suspense wonderfully to the very end.  I was laughing and waiting on the edge of my seat like no other film has done to me in a while.

The Gold Rush is one for all film and Chaplin fans to check out.  It’s fun, sweet and full of iconic and inspiring gags.  Whether you can only find the 1942 version or the original silent, it is worth seeing and a lot of fun.  This is a wonderful Chaplin film, guaranteed to put a big smile on your face.

“And of course at that moment, Georgia would forget her gloves.”

Silver Linings Playbook

Have I ever told you how much I love it when a great, heartfelt comedy makes it into the Best Picture nominations?  Of the year’s nine nominations, Silver Linings Playbook is the most lighthearted film and it leaves you smiling and warm inside.  Best of all, it feels like it did so effortlessly.  Over the past 20 years, I can count the comedies nominated for best picture that made me feel this good on one hand: As Good As It Gets, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno.  I love adding another rare treat to that list.

Bradley Cooper plays Pat, a man trying to reinvent himself after being diagnosed and institutionalized with bipolar disorder.  This time away has separated him from his wife.  The details connecting the status of his marriage and his time the mental institute are revealed perfectly, so I won’t spoil the ride.  His institutionalization seems to have been well for him, he has gotten in shape and is enthusiastic about the positive attitude he is trying to maintain.  It is awkwardly endearing how he is so eager to tell everyone his excelsior motto and how he is practicing to be a better husband.  You know that nearly everyone sees him as a huge loser.

While Pat’s family sees that he is doing better, there is still room for improvement.  He refuses to take his medications, claiming to not like how he feels on them, and it’s not easy for an aging couple to force their grown son to do anything.  His social skills are lacking, sometimes Pat seems to blurt things out with no filter.  His late night rantings, from being upset over the ending of a A Farewell to Arms, to feeling the urgent need to watch his wedding video, become a disturbance heard all down the street.

Through a friend, Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), whose husband recently died.  While Pat’s poor social skills stem from his mental issues, Tiffany’s may come from a mixture of grief and just not having much to care about anymore.  Her instigative scenes with Pat are beautifully raw while still keeping everyone at a distance.  Lawrence has a sweet way of making Tiffany rudely real, vulnerable yet strong and one of the most level headed characters in the film.  She and Pat strike up a friendship and a deal: Tiffany will deliver letters to Pat’s wife if he will enter a dance competition with her.

I didn’t expect this to be a dance movie, and it isn’t, but watching Cooper and Lawrence move together is wonderful.  As they practice, we are watching an unspoken bond form.  It becomes a big release for them both, better than their therapy sessions.  Romantics will hope for love to bloom, and us realists will just be happy that Pat is sleeping well at night and not bringing up his wife as much.

Pat’s family is loving and supportive, but beautifully flawed.  His father,  Pat Sr. (Robert de Niro), seems obsessive compulsive about his rituals when watching sports.  However, they come from good intentions; he just wants to spend time with his son, and seems to think of Pat as a good luck charm for the Philadelphia Eagles.  He also has a short violent history that has him permanently banned from the Eagles’ stadium.  Pat’s mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver), is a sweet and supportive aging woman who seems to have spent most of her life dealing with the different bits of crazy coming from her husband and son.  She is weathered from it, but also stronger, smarter and more understanding.  What I couldn’t understand was how she lets her husband place such steep bets on football games and how he personally involves Pat in them.  But what do I know, I’m just an outsider looking in.

Silver Linings Playbook is nominated for eight Academy Awards, and they are all the big ones too.  Cooper, Lawrence, De Niro and Weaver are all nominated for their performances, earning the film a nomination in each acting category.  The film has also earned recognition in best picture, editing, adapted screenplay and David O. Russell is competing for best director.  That’s a lot of deserved recognition from a sweet modern dramatic comedy.

I loved Silver Linings Playbook for all that it was and wanted nothing more from it.  There was a good dose of human comedy, some drama without harsh tears and a way to find happiness in this strange world.  While Pat’s mental illness is the stem of his problems, the film doesn’t preach, objectify or or let it define his character.  It is just part of this human experience.  The big dance scene is a wonderful climax that I wouldn’t dare ruin for you, but it made me think back to Little Miss Sunshine in the best way possible.  This is an unexpectedly honest and sweet film that, like its characters, doesn’t apologize for being a little off beat.

“I just see that you made an effort, and I’m gonna be better with my wife.  I’m working on that.  I wanna acknowledge her beauty.  I never used to do that.  I do now.  Just practicing.  How’d Tommy die?”