Novel Adaptation: The Silver Linings Playbook

I decided to read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick because I went to see Silver Linings Playbook (2012) when it first came out and I didn't know it was a book first. I usually like to read the books then watch the films, but exceptions can be made. After reading the book I then went on to read the screenplay adapted by David O. Russell.

I was mostly curious to read the book and the screenplay because the film was nominated for eight Oscars (at the 2013 Oscars), winning Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Lawrence).  I wanted to see if I personally could determine why this was made into an independent film and why critics loved it so much. And also if I felt the same way.

WARNING:  MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS 


The Silver Linings Playbook 
by Matthew Quick (2008)

"Meet Pat. Pat has a theory; his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him-the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus he's being haunted by Kenny G!"

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick is about Pat who has just come out a mental health facility and his journey to win back his wife, basically. Along the way there are a few storm clouds, but he always finds his silver lining. 

A couple facts about The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick before I get to the opinion stuff: it takes place in late 2006 (football season) and is two hundred eighty-nine pages long.  

Now my very long opinion about The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. The truth is I couldn't really form one. I liked the book, for the most part, but I honestly didn't feel it needed to be made into a film. I would've been content with reading the book and being done with it. I'm not even sure how many people read this when it first came out (in 2008) and how many people read the book before seeing the film. It wasn't really advertised as being adapted from a novel so I don't think a lot of people knew. Anyway, I just kind of felt that Pat's life is still going on when I finished reading. I think he found his silver lining for the time being, but there will always be that next storm cloud to cause an episode. I like stories were the ending is not really an ending, but in this case it just kind of ended..

So I'll just tell you my likes and dislikes about The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick and compare it a little to the film and screenplay.

In TSLP (2008), Pat was my favorite character. He seemed so genuine to me. Everything he did was from pure emotion; he didn't stop to think about how this would affect him personally. He just acted. He was the least selfish character in the book. I didn't like Tiffany because she was so annoying. She was a little creepy and very selfish. The comedy was funnier in the book; maybe because the acting wasn't great in the film. However I did find it annoying when Pat kept talking about apart time or apart time will end soon with his wife Nikki. I'm glad that wasn't in the screenplay.  I wish Quick had figured out a different way to say "apart time". 

While reading The Silver Linings Playbook I felt Pat had autism, but being as he was in his mid-thirties no one knew when he was a kid because it was a different time. I felt this because of the way he talked to Tiffany and how he acted in social situations. I'm not a expert on autism, but from Parenthood (2010-) and this, I based my judgement. As I read on then I thought maybe Pat didn't have autism, but the way he describes his social situations and how he acts and talks still made me think he was autistic.  I definitely think he had a nervous breakdown which caused him to act differently after treatment. It's possible his new behavior made me think he had autism. When I final finished reading The Silver Linings Playbook I decided that Pat Peoples had a nervous breakdown from a preexisting conditions. I didn't get the sense at all that he was bipolar because he wasn't that violent. Maybe I definitely don't know what I'm talking about, but that's just how I felt.

The therapist Dr. Cliff Patel was my second favorite character. He was more helpful character in the book. The sessions Pat had with Dr. Patel really helped him grow and mature. I think the therapist was smarter in the book than in the screenplay. Dr. Patel was really wise in the novel. He gave Pat a lot of insight on his life and situation. I didn't feel that Tiffany and Pat's relationship helped Pat heal like Dr. Cliff did. I think it was Pat constantly going to the therapist and talking that helped him heal. 

I really liked that Pat had a sense of lost time and didn't know exactly how long he'd been in "the bad place". It was a reoccurring element in the book of Pat trying to figure out how much time had passed from when entered the bad place until now. At one point Pat realizes he's 34 and not 30. This was a major breakthrough for him. Read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick to find out why. 

Pat has a scar above his right eyebrow and sometimes it hurts him when he's upset. That reminded me of Harry Potter which was nice; it made me feel nostalgic. 

Pat compares his life to a movie which I found charming. That is something I do on the daily. He says that he refuses to watch any movies other than the movie of his life. He's always questioning why would God create happy endings in movies if they didn't happen in real life. This is just another element that helped Pat grow during the book.

Throughout TSLP (2008), Pat read a lot, but the books mentioned will surely get spoiled for you. It's relevant to the storyline, but it sucks because maybe I wanted to read those books. 

I did enjoy reading The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. I was able to separate the film images from the words in the book which made the book better. Some things still felt a little airy or unexplained to me though. 

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) 

written by David O. Russell

"Pat (Bradley Cooper), who has bipolar disorder, is released from a mental health facility into the care of his parents after eight months of treatment. He learns his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), has moved away and his father Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) is out of work and resorting to bookmaking to earn money to start a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki after a violent episode sent him away."

Few facts about the novel adaptation: Silver Linings Playbook (2012) is a hundred twenty-two minutes long, one hundred fifty-two pages long and takes place in 2008. 

The following is my very long, screenwriter opinion/critique. 

David O. Russell really stayed true to the novel for the most part. Of course he changed a few things because it's his adaptation and he can do what he wants. For some reason I thought it was funny that he kept the original names of most of the characters even though that's what you usually do when adapting a screenplay. It just felt weird this time. I really liked that Russell kept Pat's mom character personality the same. She was my favorite character in the film. The dialogue and scenes are pretty spot on. I don't really think O. Russell adapted this. I feel like he just translated it into a screenplay format. Maybe because he thought it was perfect already. Or maybe because apparently it took five years and twenty-five rewrites before O. Russell could direct it himself. 

I only felt Pat was bipolar because of what I heard in interviews and explanations of the film. I never on my own decided what Pat's mental illness was in the film, as I didn't in the book either. If I think about it now, he could be bipolar or he could've just had a nervous breakdown like F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife. David O. Russell's son is bipolar so I can really see why he made the main character also be bipolar. At the Independent Spirit Awards as David O. Russell accepted his award he mentioned wanting to show the struggle of this disease. I find that highly commendable and that's probably why it got made. O. Russell also directed the Oscar nominated film The Fighter (2010); he has enough merit to make whatever kind of films he wants for at least the next three years. And I say if he has stories to tell, tell them. 

The therapist, Dr. Patel, was a lesser character in the script than in the book. I don't think he really helped Pat here. Which causes me to think that Pat wasn't really over his mental illness. Not that you can get over mental illness, it's a lifetime struggle. But I don't think Pat was successfully coping with his illness in the script because Dr. Patel was not a better character. I know it may be seen as a cliché in films to have a wise therapist, but I think this script needed a character like that. No one really gave Pat any insight on his life. He came out of the facility and was awkwardly trying to find his place in a world he no longer understood. Some people may say Tiffany helped him, but she just used him and then they kissed. If you think falling in love with someone as equally messed up as you are will help you're wrong. It's like two addicts being in a relationship. Neither of them are getting help and they're not helping each other positively. The script didn't have a happy ending it just ended that time in Pat's life. He still has a lot to work through. 

I like that the characters were more active in the script. In the book Pat's dad mostly sat around and did nothing. And he most certainly did not interact with Pat. In the script his dad is a major force in his coping with his mental instability. Once again, I didn't like Tiffany; she was so annoying and too aggressive for me.

I got the impression that O. Russell felt some of the things in the book where a bit clichéd for the script so he decided to change it and make it different. It worked (at times), but made the story a bit airy and not really have a recognizable plot. I will say that I found "Pat's trigger" in the script hilarious. I appreciate that changed in the adaptation. O. Russell also axed a lot of little chapters that might have been plot moving scenes, but if that's his style of adaptation, I'll let it be. I may not have done that and someone else may not have either. Maybe the script with those scenes it would've been plot moving scenes, good for pacing. However, like I said before, five years and twenty-five rewrites is a good enough excuse to get rid of little chapters. I'm just a little disappointed Pat's adoration for the clouds and really finding a silver lining didn't make as big an impact in the script as it did in the book.

Some unclear aspects of the book became clear in the screenplay and some things that I felt were crucial in the book were omitted. It was kind of disappointed to see important parts quickly explained away in the dialogue. Some of my screenwriting friends thought the dialogue was so standard and mediocre. I didn't think that. It may have been how the lines were delivered that made them seem so basic. The little dialogue the characters say in the book was completely used in the screenplay and it was very similar. You could barely tell the lines crafted by O. Russell. I don't think there was a problem with the dialogue; maybe the story. And maybe the story had a problem because the actors didn't get it either.

Famous Last Words:

To be honest, I liked the film better than the book, but I could've gone without either. I liked the film better because as not great as the acting was I loved that the characters came alive. Bradley Cooper was the best one out of the bunch along with Jacki Weaver. With both the novel and screenplay I LOVED the fact that football was major theme. I'm a HUGE New York Giants fan and I let is slide that the football team in focus is the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't think either version was bad or horrible, I just don't think the film deserved eight Oscar nominations. I think the film would've done better and gotten the message across if it wasn't so hyped up by the media. But that's what happens to good films. I did enjoy the film, it had its funny moments I think I just wish it was cast differently and the ending was different.

I definitely, DEFINITELY recommend reading the book before watching the film. If you haven't seen the film already.