Silver Linings Playbook

Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is returning to his blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia after a court-mandated stay in a mental institution. He’s determined to make amends for the violent incident that got him institutionalized in the first place—as well as separated from his wife and fired from his job as a schoolteacher. But making amends is not going to be easy, due in no small part to the fact that the family abode is a bit of a madhouse. The lively onscreen results for writer-director David O. Russell look like a romantic comedy of an unusually brash and farcical sort. And the heart of both the comedy and the drama becomes evident via Pat’s offbeat collision with a recently widowed Goth/punk gal named Tiffany (a terrific Jennifer Lawrence). Cinemark 14 and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R.