Hot off the Oscar-nominated success of The Fighter, David O. Russell is coming back strong this fall with The Silver Linings Playbook, which doesn't just team him up with another great cast, but returns him to the kind of dry, dark comedy he aced with Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. Bradley Cooper stars as a man recently released from a mental institution who moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) only to complicate his life even more by getting involved with a young neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence). You can see just how complicated it gets in the brand-new trailer, which is embedded below:
The sarcastic tone at the beginning of the trailer feels perfectly Russell, but it takes an odd, inspirational turn toward the end, which makes me wonder if that's just trailer trickery or if Russell has developed a more sentimental streak. The Fighter, though not being your typical sports drama, did have a softer side, so maybe this really is just Russell growing up. But if we're going to get a sentimental comedy, I'd much rather see it in his hands-- Russell seems completely allergic to sap, and if the performances from Cooper and Lawrence are as strong as they seem to promise in this trailer, we could be seeing an unconventional romance and story of recovery that, for once, doesn't seem totally familiar.
The Silver Linings Playbook is set for release November 21 this year, just in time for Thanksgiving and awkward family viewing. Will you give it a look?
