Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence star in a romance about broken people with Philly flair
Bradley Cooper.
TORONTO - I’ve got a new movie to champion. David O. Russell, writer-director of Three Kings and more recently, The Fighter, introduced his latest, Silver Linings Playbook, to a gala audience last night at the Toronto International Film Festival, and this morning (Sunday, Sept. 9) to the press with a media screening and press conference.
The film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as two broken people who find each other, and while that might sound like a drama, it is so funny it resists being so easily labeled. And, as an added bonus, the film is also a love letter to the city of Philadelphia and in particular, the passion of Eagles fans. Robert De Niro plays Cooper’s father, a rabid Eagles fanatic and bookie. That the native New Yorker is on screen trashing the Giants and Cowboys made me smile.
The film is smart, funny and delivers an unconventional love story that is as winning as it is believable. I’ll provide a more detailed review of the film when it is released in November.
Right now, however, here are a few thoughts from Cooper, a native Philadelphian, and Russell. Cooper says, “I felt like I hit the jackpot with this movie, that I got a chance to work with David O. Russell is an utter dream come true. My dream as an actor is to be in movies like this guy [Russell] makes.”
Russell confessed that he didn’t know much about Lawrence’s work. “I didn’t have a clue of her abilities because of her youth, and we had our choice of a lot of terrific actors and Jennifer came in at the eleventh hour and just stole it. We didn’t know she had all that in her. It’s very exciting when you work with someone like that.”
Cooper let slip his Philly pride when he talked about the film’s setting. “I’m from Philadelphia and David nailed it. People who are not from Philadelphia assume it is some weird, smaller replica of New York City, but it’s not at all. It has its own accent and interesting mentality I felt was very tangible in this movie. It’s nice to see that element in the movie. It’s so accurate you can watch and feel like you are living in this house with these people.”
Check out the AC Weekly Blog for more news about the film festival.
The film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in game-changing performances as two broken people with mental issues who find each other, and while that might sound like a drama, it is so funny it resists being so easily labeled.
One of the great pleasures of going to the Toronto International Film Festival, beyond getting a sneak peak at the next big movies of the fall, is hearing filmmakers and actors talk about their process.
Here is a list of my 10 favorite films from the Toronto Film Fest...
It has been four years since the last Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, left us wondering if the franchise was running out of steam again. However, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the franchise with the 23rd Bond film, the answer is decidedly no.
Now that the Academy Awards were announced yesterday (Jan. 10), moviegoers locally will finally get a chance to see two of the nominated films, the hunt for bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty and the hunt for survivors after the horrifying 2004 tsunami in The Impossible.
Article:
A Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness
Article:
A Lavish ‘Gatsby’
Article:
Iron Man 3: Awesome Times Two
Article:
‘Pain’ful Indeed
Article:
Cruise Into ‘Oblivion’
Article:
Go, Jackie Go!
Article:
Dinosaurs in 3D
Article:
Dreadful ‘G.I. Joe’
Share this Story: