Yesterday, I treated myself to an early Christmas present and saw Silver Linings Playbook. I was hoping it would be the renewal of faith I needed with several key aspects and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Its portrayal of mental health issues within a family and volatile relationships with everyone in it made it easy for me to connect to immediately. Just the right amount of punches were pulled for it to be enjoyable, but still make a point. My biggest jolt in faiths came from the actors themselves, though.

Jennifer Lawrence is an amazing actress who has done absolute horse shit roles ever since one of my favorite movies of 2010, Winter’s Bone. She’s at a point where she could easily be typecast into more shitty roles, but Silver Linings Playbook is proof Jennifer can continue to be something very special.

De Niro doesn’t have to prove a damn thing to anyone at this point. Still, you have to go back quite a few years to understand why he’s so iconic. I’m happy to see him take on the father who wants to do well, but struggles identifying what that means. I’m sure a lot of people identify with this and he did the role justice here.

I like Bradley Cooper. I like him a lot. He’s been enjoyable in the shallow roles and I’ve been dying to see what he does when you give him a thoughtful script and more depth. You get that here. His character knows what’s right and what’s wrong. He has a genuine want to be a better person, but he struggles with an illness that makes it difficult not to continually sabotage himself. I think he might always be an actor with some limit to his range, but Silver Linings Playbook really played to his strengths and weaknesses perfectly.

So what am I saying with all of this? Well, I suppose I’m saying the script and performances deserve many accolades. I suppose I’m saying you’d be doing yourself an injustice by not rushing out to see it. I suppose I’m saying this is absolutely one of my favorite flicks of the year.