Directed by David O. Russell
(R)
****
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This moving comedy “swings between passionate highs and intentionally painful lows,” said Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. Bradley Cooper stars as a recently discharged mental patient who has moved back in with his oddball parents, and as we watch “the absurdly funny ups and downs” of this “bipolar head case,” director David O. Russell (The Fighter) proves to be “a virtuoso of chaos.” We know from the outset where the story is headed, but surprising detours and a great cast make this one of 2012’s “freshest, funniest” crowd-pleasers, said Rene Rodriguez in The Miami Herald. Playing the hero’s dad—an OCD-level Philadelphia Eagles fan—Robert De Niro delivers “his liveliest performance in years.” And as effective as Cooper is, Jennifer Lawrence proves to be even better, said Claudia Puig in USA Today. Playing a young widow who offers to help the protagonist win back his estranged wife, she displays “sharp comic timing and energetic charm” that we haven’t seen before from the star of The Hunger Games and Winter’s Bone. “At 22, she already is one of the most talented actresses in the business.”
