5 Reasons Jennifer Lawrence Should Win the Oscar For "Silver Linings Playbook"

Culture
ByMeera Aiyagari

1. She keeps it cool while going crazy:

Jennifer Lawrence may play a depressed and manic young widow, but she plays it cool. Her character is not calm and collected, but somehow Jennifer Lawrence is able to remain that way. At no moment did I ever feel the atmosphere of an actor being over-dramatic. Even when she is screaming at Bradley Cooper in public and accusing him of harassment, I really felt like I was witnessing a moment of Tiffany’s life. Tiffany’s screaming is not a ploy to make the audience notice how great Jennifer Lawrence’s acting is; but, we notice it anyway. 

2. She stole the scene from Robert DeNiro.

One of the (many) highlights of the film is when Jennifer Lawrence completely upstages Robert DeNiro by reciting baseball statistics, proving that she is the good luck charm to his winning streak. How she managed to memorize all of that information, I’ll never know. How she managed to recite it all while staring down a legend is also a mystery. But what’s crystal clear is that when she finishes that monologue and cracks open a beer the words "slam dunk" might as well have appeared on the screen, because that’s exactly what that scene was for her.

3. The dance scene:

If you could only see one scene from Silver Linings Playbook it should be the scene when Pat and Tiffany finally perform their dance number. Both Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper made their madness the joyous centerpiece to this incredibly technically bad but truly amazing dance routine. It takes a lot of courage to dance like a 5-year-old in front of a crew, Robert DeNiro, and not let’s not forget, Chris Tucker. Jennifer Lawrence did it and she did it well. That deserves an award on its own.

4. She delivers dart-like one-liners:

Another gem of Jennifer Lawrence’s performance is her ability to give a death stare and then rattle off a one-liner without breaking her gaze. For example, when she calls out Bradley Cooper’s character, Pat, saying, "can we get through one fucking conversation without you reminding me that my goddamn husband's dead?", it’s the way she delivers the line that is so refreshingly not-dainty. It’s completely honest. It’s exactly what a regular person would say to someone who continues to remind them that their spouse is dead. She says these one-liners without any candy coating; she just spits them out with an honest venom that immediately infects you.

5. She’s hilariously heartbreaking:

The entire film is like a being on the verge of tears and then bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. That feeling is personified by Tiffany. You feel awful for her when she’s trying to invite Pat into her home for a one-night-stand, but what she’s saying is just so funny that you don’t completely break down. She perfects the yin and yang of happy crying. If that’s not an Oscar-worthy performance then I’ll have to give up on the Oscars, because I’m certainly not giving up on Jennifer Lawrence.