Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh is a playwright and film director and brought up in London to Irish parents. He has been described as one of the most important living playwrights in Ireland, McDonagh was born in Camberwell, London to Irish parents. His mother and his father moved back to Galway, leaving McDonagh. Separated into two trilogies, McDonaghs first six plays are located in and around County Galway, where he spent his holidays as a child. The first is set in Leenane, a village on the west coast of Ireland. McDonaghs first non-Irish play The Pillowman is set in a totalitarian state and premiered at the Royal National Theatre in 2003. A Behanding in Spokane is McDonaghs first play that is set in the United States, lead actor Christopher Walken was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as a killer looking for the hand he lost in his youth. McDonagh penned two prize-winning radio plays, one of which is The Tale of the Wolf and the Woodcutter, in February 2010, an announcement revealed that McDonagh was working on a new stage musical with composer Tom Waits and director Robert Wilson.
The play was received on its opening night in Galway in 1996 and was produced Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in 1998. The play transferred to Broadway in April 1998 and received a Tony Award for Best Play nomination, a Skull in Connemara A Connemara man is employed to exhume skeletons in an overcrowded graveyard and he encounters the wife whom he was once accused of killing. The play premiered in 1997 at Town Hall Theatre, the play was presented at the Royal Court Theatre, and made its US premiere at the A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, Washington in July to August 2000. The play ran Off-Broadway in January to May 2001 at the Gramercy Theatre, the Lonesome West Two brothers bicker in the aftermath of the supposedly accidental fatal shooting of their father. The play ran on Broadway in 1999 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play in 1999, the Cripple of Inishmaan A dark comedy in which a crippled teenager schemes to attain a role in Man of Aran. The play opened in 1997 at the Royal National Theatre in London and it opened in April 1998 Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, with Ruaidhri Conroy in the title role on both occasions.
Also in 1998, Frederick Koehler played the role in the Geffen Playhouse production in Los Angeles. In December 2008, The Cripple of Inishmaan was produced Off-Broadway by the Atlantic Theater Company, in conjunction with The Druid Theatre Company of Galway, Ireland. The Lieutenant of Inishmore A dark comedy in which the leader of an INLA splinter group discovers that his best friend. The play was produced Off-Broadway in February 2006 by the Atlantic Theater Company and it transferred to Broadway in May 2006 and received a 2006 Tony Award nomination for Best Play
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Charles Cooper is an American actor and producer. He was one of the worlds highest-paid actors for three years, and has been nominated for various accolades, including four Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Cooper appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 on two occasions and Times list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2015, Cooper enrolled in the MFA program at the Actors Studio, New York City in 2000. His career began with a guest role in the television series Sex and he first gained recognition as Will Tippin in the spy-action television show Alias, and achieved minor success with a supporting part in the comedy film Wedding Crashers. His breakthrough role came in 2009 with The Hangover, a successful comedy which spawned two sequels in 2011 and 2013. Coopers portrayal of a writer in the thriller Limitless and a rookie police officer in the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines drew praise from critics. He found greater success with the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, the comedy crime film American Hustle.
For his work in films, Cooper was nominated for Academy Awards—two Best Actor, one Best Supporting Actor. Cooper became the actor to receive an Academy Award nomination in three consecutive years. In 2014, he portrayed Joseph Merrick in a Broadway revival of The Elephant Man, Cooper was born on January 5,1975, in Philadelphia, and grew up in the nearby communities of Jenkintown and Rydal. His mother, worked for the local NBC affiliate and his father, Charles Cooper, who died in January 2011, worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch. Charles Cooper was of Irish descent, while Gloria Cooper is of Italian ancestry, Cooper has an older sister, Holly. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and he had cholesteatoma in his ear soon after his birth, and punctured his eardrum when he started diving at an early age. Describing himself as a child, Cooper has said, I never lived the life of Oh, People thought I was a girl when I was little, because I looked like a girl—maybe because my mother would keep my hair really long.
He excelled at basketball, and enjoyed cooking, I used to have come over after kindergarten. I prided myself in taking whatever was in the fridge and turning it into lasagna and he initially wanted to attend a military academy and move to Japan to become a ninja. At an early age, his father introduced him to films like The Elephant Man, while attending Germantown Academy, he worked at the Philadelphia Daily News. He says that in school he was neither the smartest person nor the coolest kid, after graduating from the academy in 1993, Cooper studied at Villanova University for a year before transferring to Georgetown University
Rian Johnson
Rian Craig Johnson is an American writer, producer and voice actor. He won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with his feature film. Johnson directed The Brothers Bloom and Looper, as well as three episodes of the AMC series Breaking Bad, Johnson is the writer and director of Star Wars, The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars saga and the second in the sequel trilogy. He has written the treatment for Star Wars, Episode IX. Johnson was born in Maryland. He was raised in San Clemente and attended San Clemente High School and he attended the University of Southern California and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1996. Johnsons first short film, Evil Demon Golfball from Hell, which is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poes The Tell-Tale Heart, was included as an easter egg on the Looper Blu-ray. Johnsons film career, as told to Robert K. Elder, author of The Film That Changed My Life, was inspired by Annie Hall. He stated, It moved me in a way very few other films have moved me.
Thats something that, I pray to God, if I am able to keep making movies, I can only hope, twenty years down the line maybe and his debut film, made for just under $500,000, Brick is a crime drama. Johnson has often said that he looked to the novels of Dashiell Hammett as inspiration for the unique use of language. While the film is classified as a noir, Johnson claims that no references were made to film noir during production. Brick was released on DVD by Focus Features, Johnson directed the video for The Mountain Goats song Woke Up New in 2006. He is a fan of the band, and was asked to direct the video when bandleader John Darnielle noticed a reference to them in the credits for Brick. A song is credited to The Hospital Bombers Experience, which is a reference to the Mountain Goats song titled The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, Johnson directed a live performance film of the Mountain Goats 2009 album The Life of the World to Come. The film consists of a shot, depicting Darnielle performing the entire album on guitar.
This film was screened in New York City, Chicago and Portland, Oregon upon its completion, Johnsons second film, The Brothers Bloom, is a con-man story released in theaters in May 2009, and on DVD by Summit Entertainment. Johnsons third film, began shooting in Louisiana on January 24,2011 and was released on September 28,2012 by TriStar Pictures and FilmDistrict. Set in the future, it has been described as dark science fiction
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Year-round, TIFF Bell Lightbox offers screenings, discussions, workshops, industry support, TIFF Bell Lightbox is located on the north west corner of King Street and John Street in downtown Toronto. In 2015,397 films from 71 countries were screened at 28 screens in downtown Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 480,000 attendees, TIFF starts the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for eleven days. Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world, in 1998, Variety magazine acknowledged that TIFF is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics and market activity. In 2007, TIME noted that TIFF had grown from its place as the most influential film festival to the most influential film festival. This is partially the result of TIFFs ability and reputation for generating Oscar buzz, the Toronto International Festival’s Grolsch People’s Choice Award — which is based on popular vote by Festival filmgoers — has emerged as a beacon of awards-season success.
Founded by Bill Marshall, Dusty Cohl and Henk Van der Kolk and that first year,35,000 filmgoers watched 127 films from 30 countries presented in ten programmes. Piers Handling has been the director and CEO since 1994. TIFF was once centred on the Yorkville neighbourhood, but the Toronto Entertainment District gained a level of prominence. TIFF is known for the celebrity buzz it brings to the area with international media setting up near its restaurants and stores for photos and interviews with the stars. In 2010, TIFF opened its permanent headquarters, TIFF Bell Lightbox, TIFF has grown, steadily adding initiatives throughout the years. TIFF Cinematheque and the Film Reference Library opened in 1990, the TIFF Kids International Film Festival launched in 1998. Film Circuit began exhibiting independent and Canadian films in under-serviced cities across Canada in 1994, the festival was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl. Beginning as a collection of the films from film festivals around the world.
Ironically, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their products, in 1994, the decision was made to replace the name Festival of Festivals with Toronto International Film Festival. From 1994 to 2009, the organization running TIFF was named Toronto International Film Festival Group. In 2009, the umbrella organization TIFFG was renamed to TIFF, in 2001, Perspective Canada, the programme that had focused on Canadian films since 1984, was replaced by two programmes, Canada First. A forum for Canadian filmmakers presenting their first feature-length work, featuring eight to 15 films, and Short Cuts Canada, in 2004, TIFF was featured as the site of murder mystery in the film Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, a comedy film starring Martin Short
Xavier Dolan
Xavier Dolan, sometimes credited as Xavier Dolan-Tadros, is a French Canadian actor, screenwriter, costume designer, and voice actor from Quebec. He began his career as an actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received acclaim in 2009 for his debut feature I Killed My Mother. He has won awards for his film work, including the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for Mommy. Dolan was born on 20 March 1989, in Montreal, Quebec and he is the son of Geneviève Dolan, a Quebecois teacher, and Manuel Tadros, an Egyptian-born Coptic Canadian actor and singer with strong ties to the Quebecois entertainment industry. He reportedly wrote the script when he was 16 years old and he said in an interview with Canadian newspaper Le Soleil that the film was partly autobiographical. The film was at first financed solely by Dolan, but when need for more money arose, both turned him down for different reasons. In December 2008, SODEC gave him a $400,000 subsidy, in all, the film cost around $800,000 CAD.
Dolan said that the system to acquire funding is a financing mechanism that holds the creative assets of Quebec hostage. Dolan admitted the film was flawed and Peter Brunette of The Hollywood Reporter called it an uneven film that demonstrates a great deal of talent. Brunette called the funny and audacious, while Allan Hunter of Screen International said that it possessed the sting of shrewdly observed truth. The film received the Claude Jutra Award at the Genies, distribution rights were sold to more than 20 countries. Due to legal problems experienced by the films U. S. distributor, Regent Entertainment, it was not released theatrically in the U. S. until 2013, the second feature film Dolan directed, was financed privately. The film follows two friends who are infatuated with the mysterious young man and their friendship suffers. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at the 63e Festival de Cannes in May 2010 where it received a standing ovation and it received several Genie nominations and the AQCC for Best Film.
His third film, Laurence Anyways, was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, suzanne Cléments performance in the film won the sections award for Best Actress. The film received praise from critics but again failed to find an audience, in May 2012, Dolan announced that his fourth film would be an adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchards play Tom at the Farm. It received its premiere in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013
Seven Psychopaths
Seven Psychopaths is a 2012 crime black comedy film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. It stars Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Christopher Walken, with Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko, the film marks the second collaboration between McDonagh and Ivanek, following 2008s In Bruges. The film was a co-production of the United States and the United Kingdom, Seven Psychopaths had its world première on 7 September 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in the United States and Canada on 12 October 2012, Marty Faranan is a struggling writer who dreams of finishing his screenplay, Seven Psychopaths. Martys best friend, makes a living by kidnapping dogs, Billys partner-in-crime is Hans Kieslowski, a religious man with a cancer-stricken wife, Myra. Marty writes a story for another psychopath, the Quaker, who stalks his daughters killer for decades, driving the killer to suicide, Billy suggests Marty use the Jack of Diamonds killer, perpetrator of a recent double murder, as one of the seven psychopaths in his script.
Billy places an advertisement in the newspaper inviting psychopaths to call, a man named Zachariah Rigby approaches Marty and shares his story, with the condition that the movie includes a message to his partner in crime. Billy and Hans steal a Shih Tzu named Bonny, unaware that it is the pet of Charlie Costello. Charlies thugs, led by Paulo, discover Hans connection to the kidnapping and they threaten to kill Marty and Hans, but the Jack of Diamonds killer arrives and shoots the thugs. Charlie traces Myra to the ward and kills her after she refuses to tell him anything. Billy goes to Costellos house to meet his girlfriend, after Billy reveals to her that he kidnapped Bonny, she calls Charlie to tell him. Billy, after finding out that Charlie killed Myra, shoots Angela in retaliation, Charlie arrives at Billys address and discovers many packs of playing cards with the jack of diamonds missing, and realizes Billy is the Jack of Diamonds killer. Marty and Hans leave the city with Bonny, Hans reveals that he was the Quaker and survived his attempted suicide.
Marty unknowingly wrote his story after hearing it from a drunken Billy, the trio drive into the desert and set up camp. Billy suggests Seven Psychopaths end with a shootout between the psychopaths and Charlies forces. Marty and Hans see a headline saying that Billy is wanted in connection with the Jack of Diamonds killings, Marty confronts Billy, who reveals that he assumed the Jack of Diamonds persona to give Marty inspiration. Disillusioned, Marty tells Billy they must go home, Hans has a vision of Myra and talks to her. She tells him that she is in a place, leading Hans to question his belief in the afterlife
Antiviral (film)
Antiviral is a 2012 Canadian-French science fiction horror film directed by Brandon Cronenberg. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Cronenberg re-edited the film after the festival to make it tighter, trimming nearly six minutes out of the film. The revised film was first shown at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, to make extra money, Syd uses his own body as an incubator, steals pathogens from the lab, and sells them on the black market. To do so, he uses a console to break the copy protection placed on the virus by the clinic, once injected in a client. He passes the pathogens to Arvid, who works at Astral Bodies, after Derek is caught smuggling and arrested, Lucas asks Syd to take his place and harvest a pathogen from Hannah, who has recently fallen ill. Once he has taken a sample from Hannah, Syd quickly injects himself with some of her blood. He experiences the first symptoms and disorientation, rapidly and his attempts to remove the virus copy protection are unsuccessful, and the console is destroyed during the process.
When Syd awakens from severe delirium the next day, he discovers Hannah has died from the unknown disease, desperate to fix his console, he approaches Arvid, who sets up a meeting with Levine, the leader of the piracy group. Levine offers to fix the console in exchange for samples of Syds blood, Levine subdues him and forcibly takes samples from Syd, as the pathogen which killed Hannah is now hotly in demand on the black market, and lethal pathogens are not legal to distribute. The next day, a severely ill Syd is approached by two men, who drive him to a location where Hannah is actually still alive. Hannahs death was fabricated to protect her, but she is shown to be in the stages of the illness, extremely weak. He further suggests that since Syd unnecessarily injected himself with Hannahs blood, as Syds condition worsens, he returns to the Lucas Clinic, where he traces the original strain of the virus to Derek, who sold it to a rival company, Vole & Tesser. Dr Abendroth discovers that Vole & Tesser patented the modified strain, as Syd begins to show the final symptoms, he escapes by spearing Levine in the mouth with a syringe and holding a nurse hostage with his infected blood.
After Syd realizes that Vole & Tesser infected Hannah to harvest their own patented pathogen from her, Syd contacts Tesser, the film closes with a virtual-reality version of Hannah that advertises her Afterlife exclusively from Vole & Tesser. Syd is shown working for Vole & Tesser, where Hannahs cells have been replicated to form a distorted cell garden from Astral Bodies celebrity meat technology, viruses injected into her system are sold. Syd demonstrates a new virus as he sticks a needle into a genetically created arm. Later, while alone, Syd cuts the arm and drinks the blood, it is revealed the arm is in fact Hannahs, as her deformed face. Caleb Landry Jones as Syd March, an employee at Lucas Clinic Sarah Gadon as Hannah Geist, more precisely, the central idea came to him in a fever dream during a bout of illness, wrote journalist Jill Lawless
English Vinglish
English Vinglish is a 2012 Indian comedy-drama film and directed by Gauri Shinde. The films narrative revolves around a housewife who enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills, the protagonist, played by Sridevi, was inspired by Shindes mother. English Vinglish was originally made in Hindi, it was re-shot in Tamil, the film marked Sridevis return to filmmaking after a 15-year hiatus, it features French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain, and Priya Anand. Amitabh Bachchan and Ajith Kumar had cameo appearances in the Hindi, before its theatrical release, English Vinglish was premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where both the film and Sridevis performance received positive response. Prior to its release, the film was screened for the Indian press and it received critical acclaim and several critics hailed it as a must watch film. Soon after its release, the film was declared a hit in India, English Vinglish swept all the Best Debut Director awards of 2012 for Gauri Shinde.
The film was shortlisted as Indias official entry for the Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film category. The film earned global acclaim at international festivals across the world and Sridevi was hailed as the Meryl Streep of India. Shashi Godbole is a housewife who makes and sells laddoos as a home-run business and her husband Satish and daughter Sapna take her for granted, mock her poor English skills and generally treat her with disrespect, making Shashi feel negative and insecure. However, her son, Sagar loves her as she is. Shashis older sister Manu, who lives in New York, invites Shashis family to her daughter Meeras wedding to Kevin. It is decided that Shashi will go to New York alone to help Manu organize the wedding, during her flight to New York, Shashi is given inspirational advice by a fellow passenger. While Shashi is in New York, she has an experience at a coffee shop due to her inability to communicate in English. Shashi quickly becomes a promising and committed student, earns everyones respect with her behavior and her cuisine.
When he tries to kiss her at the rooftop of a building, Shashi rejects him and runs off, Shashis niece Radha who is Meeras younger sister finds out about her secret English classes and is supportive of her pursuit. Shashi starts watching English films at night and does her homework assiduously, to complete the English-speaking course and get a certificate, each student must write and deliver a 5-minute speech. Shashis family joins her in New York earlier than planned, to surprise Shashi, Shashi tries to continue attending class, but decides to quit because of scheduling conflicts, and asks Radha to inform Fischer. The test date coincides with that of the wedding, and Shashi is forced to miss the test, Radha invites Fischer and the entire class to the wedding, where Satish is taken aback at being introduced to a diverse group of people by his wife
Looper (film)
Looper is a 2012 American neo-noir science fiction thriller film written and directed by Rian Johnson, and produced by Ram Bergman and James D. Stern. It stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt and it revolves around criminal syndicates using contracted killers called loopers to kill victims sent through time travel. Looper was selected as the film of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Australia on September 27,2012, and in the US, the film grossed $176.5 million on a $30 million budget while receiving critical acclaim. In 2044, 30-year-old Joe works for a Kansas City crime syndicate as a looper, since future technology has made it near-impossible to dispose of bodies, the syndicate uses time travel, invented thirty years and outlawed instantly. Managed by a man named Abe Mitchell, loopers kill and dispose of face-concealed victims. To prevent connections to the syndicate, loopers kill their future selves with gold bars strapped to them when they retire, effectively ending the contract and closing the loop.
Joe reluctantly hides Seth in his apartments floor safe, but is taken to Abe by Kid Blue, Joe reveals Seths location instead of forfeiting half his silver, and Abes men cut an address into younger Seths arm, begin severing body parts. As Old Seths limbs disappear, he goes to the address and is killed, when Joes next target arrives, it is his older self with his face uncovered. Before Joe can kill him, Old Joe shields himself, knocks younger Joe unconscious, returning to his apartment, Young Joe fights with Kid Blue, only to fall off a fire escape and black out. In another timeline, Young Joe kills his older self as he arrives and he moves to Shanghai, where his drug addiction and partying persist, becoming a hitman to finance himself. Years later, he meets a woman during a bar fight, thirty years after, Joe is taken to close the loop and his wife is killed in the process. Overpowering his captors, Joe sends himself back to 2044 thereby altering history, when Old Joe sees Young Joe fall, he shoots the Gat Men and drags him away.
Old Joe begins to manifest vague memories of Young Joes actions in the present, Kid Blue and several other Gat Men arrive at the diner and a gunfight ensues, Young Joe collects a corner of Old Joes map as both escape. Young Joe follows the map to a farm where Sara and her son Cid live, Sara recognizes the number on the map as Cids birthday and birth hospitals code. Young Joe guesses that Old Joe is going to all three children born at the hospital that day, not knowing which one will become the Rainmaker, so he waits at the farm to protect Cid. Jesse, another Gat Man, comes looking for both Joes at the farm, but Cid and Young Joe hide in an underground tunnel, that night Sara and Young Joe have sex, and Sara reveals she has TK powers. Cids powers are revealed to be stronger, with Sara hiding in a safe when he has a tantrum
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence is an American actress. Since 2015, Lawrence has been the actress in the world. She appeared in Times 100 most influential people in the world in 2013 and Forbes Celebrity 100 the following year, during her childhood, Lawrence performed in church plays and school musicals. When she was 14, a talent scout spotted her in New York and she moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career by playing guest roles in television shows. Her first major role came as a main cast member on the sitcom The Bill Engvall Show, Lawrence made her film debut with a supporting role in Garden Party, and had her breakthrough playing a poverty-stricken teenager in the independent drama Winters Bone. She achieved wider recognition for playing the mutant Mystique in X-Men, First Class, Lawrences fame continued to grow with her starring role as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games film series, which established her as the highest-grossing action heroine of all time. She went on to earn various accolades from her collaborations with director David O.
Russell and her performance as a depressed widow in the romance film Silver Linings Playbook received an Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second youngest Best Actress Oscar winner. Lawrence subsequently won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing a wife in the black comedy American Hustle. She received Golden Globe Awards for her roles in both of these films and for playing the eponymous inventor in the biopic Joy. Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born on August 15,1990, in Indian Hills, Kentucky, to Gary, a worker, and Karen. She has two brothers and Blaine, and her mother brought her up to be tough like them. Lawrences mother did not allow her to play other girls in preschool as she deemed her too rough with them. The actress was educated at the Kammerer Middle School in Louisville and she did not enjoy her childhood due to hyperactivity and social anxiety, and considered herself a misfit among her peers. Lawrence says that her anxieties vanished when she performed on stage, a cheerleader at school, Lawrence played softball, field hockey and basketball, which she played on a boys team that her father coached.
She was fond of riding while growing up and frequently visited a local horse farm. She has a damaged coccyx from being thrown off a horse, the actress has said that she knew she would be famous from an early age. When her father worked from home, she performed for him, for the next few years, she continued to take parts in church plays and school musicals. During a family vacation to New York, when Lawrence was 14, Lawrences mother was not keen on allowing her to pursue an acting career, but briefly moved to the city to let her read for roles
Silver Linings Playbook
Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy drama film written and directed by David O. Russell. It was adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew Quick, the film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, and Julia Stiles in supporting roles. Cooper plays Patrick Pat Solitano, Jr. a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a hospital and moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro. The two become closer as they train and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with other as they cope with their problems. Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8,2012, the film opened to major critical success and earned numerous accolades. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, the film was a success at the box office, grossing over $236 million worldwide, more than eleven times its budget.
After eight months of treatment in a health facility for bipolar disorder, Patrick Pat Solitano is released into the care of his father Patrizio. His main focus is to reconcile with his wife, Nikki. She has moved away and obtained an order against him after Pat had found her in the shower with another man. During his time in the clinic Pat befriends Danny McDaniels, an man who is embroiled in a legal dispute with the clinic on whether or not he is eligible to leave. Pats therapist, Dr. Patel, does his best to him to keep taking his medication. But Pat tells him that he has a new outlook on life, he attempts to see the good, or silver linings, at dinner with his friend Ronnie and his wife Veronica, Pat meets Veronicas sister Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow with depression and relationship problems. Sparks fly between Pat and Tiffany and she tries to connect by offering sex, but Pat keeps focusing on getting Nikki back. Tiffany tries to get closer to Pat and even offers to deliver a letter to Nikki—if, in return, he will practice dancing with her and he reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks.
Pat believes the competition will be a way to show Nikki that he has changed. Patrizio hopes to open his own restaurant and has resorted to illegal bookmaking, having put virtually all of his money on the outcome of a Philadelphia Eagles game, he asks Pat to attend as a good-luck charm. Danny is eventually released from the clinic, and teaches Pat, Pat asks Tiffany for time off from practice to attend the game. She gives him a reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for reconciliation between them
