Rocky Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

This post originally appeared in 2013.

Delicious

Another absolutely horrific winter weather day here in the south, which for you uninitiated/Yankees means it was below 50 degrees, so off to the movie theater we go. Now that the Oscar nominations are out, some films that I missed the first time around have circled back for another go. One of these is Silver Linings Playbook. I wanted to see it because a) Bradley Cooperlicious and b) is unnecessary, see a). Seriously, I was interested in seeing it because it is set in Philadelphia and my hubs is a Philly native. I thought he would get a kick out of it. Plus, he would be my BS-o-meter in case anything Philly-ish was misrepresented.

Silver Linings is a mash-up of Rocky (if Rocky had a handsome, tall lead actor for whom English was a first language, and was about ballroom dancing rather than boxing) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (if it had a handsome, tall lead actor whose mother sprung him from the nut house in the first five minutes of the film). Soooo, not a whole lot like those two films, but whatev. It is basically a romantic comedy with colorful Philadephia neighborhood characters and mental illness serving as the backdrop. Which of course is a match made in heaven, since just about everyone in the movie lives in a Philadelphia neighborhood and suffers from some sort of mental illness.

Bottom line: the movie was cute and I recommend you see it. Some particularly delightful bits include:

the meet cute between Cooper's character and his love interest, played by Jennifer Lawrence. I may be the only person within 75 miles of an American urban center who has not seen or read Hunger Games, but I believe she was in that?  Anyway the meet cute was, well, cute.Even though his role felt tacked on, it was good to see Chris Tucker back on the silver screen. I adored him in Fifth Element and of course 1.5 of the Rush Hour movies.My hubs was delighted with the diner featured in one part of the film. It is an actual place and he has been in there scarfing carbs after a night of partying. Props for authenticity.Robert DeNiro's character being 'banned for life' due to too many fights at the Eagles games. My hubs assures me this is a real thing.Tailgating scene at the Eagles game - Cooper's character's Indian therapist - hysterical in Eags face paint! Love it!This last one pains me to mention, but again, props for authenticity: use of the Eagles/Cowboys rivalry crucial to the climax of the film. At least I can say we know this film is fiction, because it depicts the Eagles making it to the playoffs.



Delicious

If I had one criticism it would be that there was only a brief mention of cheese steaks and absolutely no mention or sightings of pretzels. No Philly pretzels? This is a travesty. And also a good excuse for Silver Linings 2: Eagles Lose to Cowboys - Again.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll take a minute to subscribe to my blog (the subscribe box is near the top of the right sidebar).