Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook.
David O. Russell's first movie since the Oscar-bait crowd-pleaser The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook is a neurotic ode to family dysfunction and accepting the universal screwup in all of us, which is to say it's maybe the most heartwarming movie you'll ever see about bipolarity. After several months of being deinstitutionalized, Pat (Bradley Cooper) is determined to prove to his estranged wife that he's perfectly – no really – okay. But he's not, and in fact is so not okay he can't even recognize that the attention he's getting from the equally dysfunctional Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) may be the nicest thing that's ever happened to him. Russell's clear affection for his hopelessly oblivious characters is palpable and genuine, Lawrence and Cooper have electric chemistry, and the director pulls off one of the most satisfying romantic Hollywood endings seen in years.
Sept. 9, 11 a.m. Visa Screening Room.