Silver Linings Playbook

A closer look at the story

Silver Linings Playbook centres on Pat Solatano, a former history teacher who has lost almost everything that mattered to him. Without his job and his wife, and after a spell in an institution following a breakdown, he ends up back under his parents' roof. All he wants is to get his life in order, return to work and win back his wife, Nikki, but that proves much harder than he imagines. His father, meanwhile, would be delighted if Pat simply shared his passion for the Philadelphia Eagles. At a dinner hosted by family friends, Pat meets Tiffany Maxwell. She offers to help him get back in touch with his wife, but in return she asks him to do something that matters enormously to her. Their odd arrangement opens a new door in both their lives. David O. Russell wrote and directed this 122-minute romantic comedy-drama from 2012, adapted from Matthew Quick's novel. Bradley Cooper plays Pat, Jennifer Lawrence plays Tiffany and Robert De Niro plays Pat's father, with Jacki Weaver and Anupam Kher also in the cast.