The critically adored rom-com that tastefully delved into the interweaving stories of two mentally-in-disarray Philadelphians has proven the test of time thanks to evergreen quotability, a seamless fusion of sport and dance, and Oscar-recognized performances from its now-superstar leads.
Listed below are ten films that evoke shades of 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook. Some are similar to the point of intrigue, and others are not necessarily in the same genre – yet equally inspire audiences to belch with laughter and shed empathetic tears all the same.
Uncut Gems
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Both Silver Linings Playbook and The Safdie Brothers’ passion project feature obsessive-and-flawed leads one can’t help but root for. Pat Solitano Jr. and Howard Ratner are each motivated to pool all their will and belief in the one thing they think will bring them the happiness they think they lost, and perhaps never even had to begin with.
For Pat, it’s “Excelsior” – a mantra he surrenders to with a marital reunion as his endgame. For “Howie Bling,” it’s “the gem,” or rather what he really lives and dies by – for the Celtics to cover.
Birdman
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Similarly, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) – the lead of 2014’s Best Picture Winner, Birdman – shares the unshakable, borderline insane commitment to what he thinks will reverse decades of pain and hardship.
Both films are – at their basic level – comedies whose punchlines are only disrupted by an intersection where the corner of dramatic filmmaking meets traumatic think-tanking.
Serena
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Establishing the kinetic energy with her co-star that filmmakers dream of, Jennifer Lawrence tabbed Bradley Cooper to return as her on-screen beau in the little-scene period romantic drama, Serena.
While the pair did share scenes and star billing in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook follow-up, 2013’s American Hustle, Serena was where their romantic connection returned full-throttle.
Big Fan
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Pat does not bleed Eagle green like his gambling addict father (Robert De Niro). But it’s chaotic environments like a facepaint haven tailgate that place Pat back in violent, line-crossing mode just like Patton Oswalt’s character in Big Fan, the underrated directorial debut from Robert Siegel (screenwriter, The Wrestler).
In the Travis Bickle-as-a-sports-talk-caller character study, the comedian more known for TV work outkicks the coverage most laid out for him. Not dissimilar to how the maniac Cooper played in Wedding Crashers convinced David O. Russell the then-broad comedy bit player had dramatic leading man chops.
Surviving Christmas
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It may not have been his real family. But the domestic issues at play in Surviving Christmas between Ben Affleck (set to return as Batman in the upcoming director’s cut of Justice League and the much-delayed The Flash) and the family he pays to pretends to be his own mirror the plight of the Solitanos of Silver Linings Playbook upon Pat’s return home.
Both Affleck’s Drew and Pat’s hearts are in the right place, but their minds are typically askew – until a love interest helps lead them back to themselves.
Garden State
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Though their trauma is not the same, the bond formed over being a reject in a world that does not understand them is a shared trait between Silver Linings Playbook and Zach Braff’s indie hit debut.
Starring the actor/writer/director himself as Andrew Largeman, a struggling actor in Hollywood who returns to his native New Jersey, Garden State and Silver Linings Playbook exist on different ends of the same story spectrum. The former is about the requiem found in throwing one’s medicine away, and the latter is about one admitting they still need it.
Save The Last Dance
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Julia Stiles danced her way into the hearts of early ’00s film lovers with Save The Last Dance, affirming that her turn in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You was no fluke.
Her character’s romance with on-screen partner Sean Patrick Thomas blossomed through the latter schooling the ballet-trainee former in all things hip hop. Fast-forward a decade: Stiles returned to star in another dance-heavy box-office smash, this time as the sister of one of its leads (Jennifer Lawrence).
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
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A Silver Linings Playbook reboot reimagined to take place in a ’90s high school might bear more than a surface resemblance to Stephen Chbosky’s 2012 film adaptation of his beloved novel.
Released in the same year, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower also authentically depicts a psychologically-perplexed lover of English class mainstay literature whose ability to befriend dependable misfits is only outdone by his inability to shake the singular moment in his life that damaged him the most.
Step Brothers
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Fans of each may considerably pause before realizing the two films share more than they would originally anticipate.
Like Silver Linings Playbook, Step Brothers is a love story about a family pulled apart then brought back together again by the exploits of its incredibly disturbed but oh-so-lovable leads. Each culminates in a musical performance consisting of its two leads, whose efforts effectively save the day.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
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When Silver Linings Playbook opens, audiences meet the film’s hero – a recently-institutionalized man upon his release. In the Best Picture-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the lead is introduced upon checking in (to a facility).
One film captures the interior minutiae experienced by the committed while the other follows their journey back into society. Yet both endearingly attest to the unique friendships formed on the inside. Cuckoo’s Nest through RP McMurphey and the men whose lives he changed for the better, and in the Silver Linings Playbook friendship between Pat and Danny (Chris Tucker).