Silver Linings Playbook- Best Supporting Actor

David O. Russell's, Silver Linings Playbook, was a great and quirky film centered around the friendship between a desperate and struggling bipolar man, eager to win back his wife after her affair, and an unorthodox yet lovable young widow.

 

Although the story seemed silly at times, the actors were all very talented and played their parts to perfection. Robert De Niro, who plays Patrick Sr., the professional bookmaker father of the main character, did a wonderful job. I truly enjoyed De Niro's performance for I believe that he really made his character believable by demonstrating the multiple faces of his character.  

 

For example, in the film, the audience first glimpses De Niro's character through facts stated by the other characters in the story so that the viewers realize that he is a professional game gambler. So it would have been easy for De Niro to simply continue portraying his character as a gambler and nothing else, since his OCD constantly leads him to live a very superstitious life regarding his hometown football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. I believe that De Niro could have simply acted this part of this character's life because it was an important instrument in the character of Patrick Sr.'s considering his bookkeeping has become his source of income and financial dependence. However, De Niro, did not decide to simply do this, for he also managed to convey the more concerned fatherly figure of his character, which was not easy to do because in the film, the father is supposed to have indirectly neglected his younger son. By succeeding in showing all the sides to his character, De Niro was able to give a realistic sense of the character to the audience which was quite well considering the sometime silly plot-line.

 

De Niro also played his part well because he managed to realistically portray his character rather than exaggerating on certain aspects. Since he was suppose to be some sort of absent father, one would expect De Niro's character to be a bit distant from his son, yet not to the point of complete ignorance because it is clear that the father still loves his son very much. De Niro realized this so he made sure that in some scenes of the film, he showed enough emotion for it to be realistic, but not too much that it became a bit exaggerated, and therefore, fake. This sort of balance must be very difficult because it is the responsibility of the actor alone, to determine in which scenes emotions and vulnerability should be portrayed, and in which scenes to be more aloof and carefree. In my opinion, De Niro accomplished in finding the balance in the scale of emotion which only enhanced his performance.

 

Overall, I believe that De Niro's performance of the concerned and well-intended father of the main character in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, was very well. He gave a strong and secure performance and did not falter when trying to grasp the concept of reality mixed with cinema.