DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
Silver Linings Playbook: Funny Spin on Illness
© NaimaLett.com/blog




©Silver Linings Playbook starring Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence

Mental illness isn’t usually funny.
Yet, Silver Linings Playbook tries to find the funny in mental illness and picks up several awards along the way.

This romantic comedy-drama has already earned the People’s Choice Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival where it premiered, the Best Director, Actor and Supporting Actor Awards at the Hollywood Film Festival, and has five Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best Screenplay.

It’s Different

We’ve all been taught not to laugh at folks who are sick, especially those of us who serve in ministry. Sickness is no joke. So who goes and makes a film to get audiences to laugh at folks who are sick? Mind you, they are folks who are trying to get better through treatment and therapy, but still, the main character is bi-polar and is trying to cope without his meds.

It’s different storytelling though, if you think about it. Because the filmmakers know that laughter enables us to let our guards down. If we laugh and enter into the world of these characters, we’re no longer laughing at them, but identifying with them and rooting for them.

Silver Linings Playbook

The official film synopsis reads as follows:
Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything — his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his father (Robert DeNiro) and mother (Jacki Weaver) after spending eight months is a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet-and to share their family’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated.

The film stars sidekick-turned-leading-man Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Wedding Crashers, & 2011’s People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive), Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class), Academy Award winning actor and director Robert De Niro (Godfather II, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver), and comedian-turned-actor Chris Tucker (Rush Hour trilogy, Friday, Dead Presidents) whose talent could’ve been used more.

Twists and Turns

Making the film reportedly had just as many twists and turns as the film itself.

According to director David O. Russell (The Fighter, Three Kings), who reportedly once tried to choke George Clooney, he wrote the film for Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers) and Zooey Deschanel (New Girl). However, A-Listers Angelina Jolie and Mark Wahlberg wanted the parts, but ran into conflicts. Then, Jennifer Lawrence won the lead role off a video audition via SKYPE while filming her breakout blockbuster Hunger Games. And that’s just on the acting side.

On the production side, sadly, two producers passed away within month of each other after optioning the original novel in 2008. Academy Award winner Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie) and Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley), both died of cancer. Goodness!

A Father’s Love

The director, David, picked up the pieces and pressed forward, even writing a role in the film for his own teenage son Matthew who was originally diagnosed with autism as a child, but has since been diagnosed with a “bipolar-obsessive compulsive disorder hybrid”. David told The Hollywood Reporter that his son’s condition is “always a moving target and a challenge, but he’s doing great… I thought it would be nice for him — for both of us and the family — to have a movie that his stuff was a part of.”

What a father would do for his son. I thought about when Jesus teaches his disciples to be persistent in their prayers to their heavenly Father in Matthew 7:7-12, 9“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

If David O. Russell can give his son a role to help normalize his condition, how much more does our Father in heaven give to His children whom He loves?

One Caution, Maybe Two

Silver Linings Playbook is Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity. Like much modern comedy, the language is definitely dicey. If profanity offends, this will offend you. This is not the Brady Bunch or the Cosby family. This is dysfunction at its peak.

Look at the trailer above and read a few reviews to figure out if this is your brand of comedy. Personally, I found the film lighthearted, but comedy is a very personal thing. What some people find funny, others do not.

For example, we recently screened the comedy This is 40 and did not laugh one time. My husband leaned over to me about 1/2 way through it and asked, how much longer? It was a whopping, abnormal 2 hours and 14 minutes. That’s a long time not to laugh at a comedy. But we talked to another couple who found the movie hilarious. They loved it. Go figure.

Please keep this in mind before you send me lots of emails questioning my funny meter or ask ‘how dare I suggest that laughing at mental illness is appropriate’. I promised you I would review the films we’ve screened and give you my opinion. I’d love to hear yours. Let me know what you think.

Onward & upward,
Naima

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My Recent Blog Reviews:
Les Misérables: Best Musical, Full of Faith
Rise of the Guardians: Two Thumbs Up
Denzel Washington’s “Flight” Takes Off

© 2012 Naima Lett. All Rights Reserved

DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
Les Misérables: Best Musical, Full of Faith
© NaimaLett.com/blog

©Universal, Les Misérables: Fight. Dream. Hope. Love. (source)

My husband doesn’t really like musicals…
but he loved Les Misérables!

Not just because Tony/Emmy Award winner Hugh Jackman aka The Wolverine rocks!

But because unlike most movie musicals, Academy Award®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) filmed Les Misérables where “over 90 percent of the singing was shot ‘live’ and not prerecorded, many of the songs done in one take. I didn’t want any barriers between emotion and realism and truth, so for me it was very important that the actors playing these characters were producing these songs out of the depths of their souls in that moment.”

Brilliant idea! It worked.
They sang from the depths of their souls and we felt it.

Les Misérables

Les Misérables started as one of the greatest epic novels in history. Written by French poet and playwright Victor Hugo in several volumes and originally published in 1862, it became an international commercial success, even though it boasted over 1400 pages (1900 in French).

The stage musical version of Les Misérables is touted as the “world’s longest running musical” seen by over 60 million people in 42 countries in 21 languages. It first opened in Paris in 1980 and ran on Broadway from 1987-2003, winning 8 of 12 Tony Awards it was nominated for including Best Musical & Best Original Score. It also won a Grammy for Best Musical Album.

The Story

Les Misérables focuses on the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.

The official film synopsis reads:
Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption—a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Hugh Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Oscar® winner Russell Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Anne Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

Best Musical, Full of Faith

This is, hands down, the BEST musical I have seen that exemplifies the story of our faith and what it means to be redeemed by God, changed, and set apart to do good works.

The most powerful theme is the examination of the nature of law versus the nature of grace and the juxtaposition of the two. Romans 5-7 is clearly personified between the two main characters and we see the struggle of following the law and living by grace.

I don’t ever want to hear another Christian say that Hollywood does not distribute “faith-based” films. Universal is not only distributing a spectacular faith-based film, but it’s one with:
– A-List Academy Award caliber actors
– an Academy Award winning director
– a top-notch production company: Working Title (Anna Karenina, The Tudors) and
– a boisterous $61 million budget.

This is film-making and storytelling at its best and Hollywood does not dumb down the faith element. Folks are praying. People of God are actually people of God. The story of redemption is the backbone of this entire shindig. Time after time we see John 15:13 personified: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

One Caution, Maybe Two

Les Misérables is Rated PG-13 for “suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements”. I’d hesitate to take young children.

Also, please know that every single word is sung. If you are not a fan of singing, take note. But if you are a fan of some of the most beloved songs in musical history – “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and “On My Own” – this is your show!

Bring Tissue

You’ll likely need it. It takes a lot for me to cry in a film, yet I found myself misty-eyed more than once. If you allow yourself to go on this fascinating cinematic journey, you’ll find that a tear or two is actually cathartic.

Onward & Upward,
Naima

Have you ever seen Les Mis?
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My Recent Blog Reviews:
Rise of the Guardians: Two Thumbs Up
Denzel Washington’s “Flight” Takes Off

© 2012 Naima Lett. All Rights Reserved

DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
Adventures in LaLa Land – Theft Chronicles
© NaimaLett.com/blog

Never a dull moment, Fam.

So, yesterday, we had another Adventure in LaLa Land!
Let’s call this one ‘The Theft Chronicles’.

When we arrive at the Center we rent for service, we realize we are not alone.
We walk in to find we already have a visitor. Most times, we’re excited to have folks visit church (YAY!), but this visitor is different. He is taking stuff… that isn’t his.

It takes me a minute to figure it out.

At first, I think he could be from the Center. But when I ask who he is, he says he’s with H0PE FOR THE HILLS. We’re actually H0PE IN THE HILLS, but no biggie. Only thing is he hasn’t been with our group. We’ve never met him before. So I ask more questions.

He talks of religious ritual and is dressed in Jewish ceremonial attire on the top and pajama pants on the bottom. Again, no biggie. Pajama pants are fashionable in LaLa Land. I see people in pajamas all the time – at the grocery store, airport, movie screenings. Pajama bottoms and Crocs. No lie. I don’t run errands in my PJs, but hey, to each his own.

Our visitor says that he is with Hope for the Hills and they are going hiking. We definitely aren’t hiking. But it looks like he’s packing bags for the trip. He has everything in the kitchen pulled out the cabinets – coffee, food, cutlery – all on the counters, all on the floor.

That’s the tip off.
This joker is cleaning house.

“I hear what you’re saying, but it looks like you’re packing items that don’t belong to you. I’m just trying to figure out if you’re telling me the truth,” I walk closer.

“Nobody tells the truth but Moses,” he replies.

Wrong answer.
Is it me, Fam, or does that sound like he just admitted to lying?

C’Mon Vogue

I hold my phone up to take a picture of this bizarre scene.
He stops maneuvering and smiles.

No he didn’t just pose for a picture with stolen items in hand? What is this? Vogue?
Only in the LaLa.

Step Away

At this point, my husband enters the scene. Later, he recounts that he heard my decibels gradually increasing and came around the corner to see what is going on with his wife. He sees her having an intense conversation with a stranger in pajama pants.

“Can you step over there? I’ll take care of this,” Kevin moves me over.
“I have nothing to say to you,” our intelligent con notifies my husband.

Other leaders have arrived. We ask our visitor to leave the fancy Torah he’s stealing and items in his bag that do not belong to him. He says he’s in a program with the LAPD and hurries out the front door (we find out later someone at the Center has accidentally left the door unlocked). He sits outside, but starts to get belligerent with us as we simply keep a watch out as onlookers pass by.

“Leave! You’re bothering me. Leave!” He yells.
“I can stand on the street!” I shoot back.

My husband dials 911, but I know if he’s routed through LA, it’ll take forever. When someone had slammed into my car and kept going (hit-and-run) a couple of years ago, and I called 911, I was routed to LAPD and they arrived 4 hours later.

So, I dial the Beverly Hills cops directly.
“I’d like to report a theft.”

On the Move

That’s when Mr. Catch-Me-If-You-Can takes off.

“He’s now on the move up Beverly,” I notify dispatch.

The dispatcher is talking to the cops looking for him and talking to me at the same time, so I stay on the phone with her and try to relay his whereabouts. He dips into a coffee shop where the police pull him aside for questioning.

“I plead the fifth,” he says.

The police do a thorough investigation. They try to interview him. They interview us. They talk with a representative from the Center. The items are identified as belonging to the Center and their representative agrees that the intruder should be arrested.

I probably would’ve asked, “The Center has its items back. Does he need to be arrested?” But I also understand the Center’s position. They have no idea how long he’d been on their property that day and if other items had been removed.

Could’ve Been so Different

“Wow. This could’ve gone down so differently,” I think to myself.

If he’s homeless or in need, why couldn’t he just say so and we could’ve offered help? Why try to steal property that doesn’t belong to you, especially after you’ve been given every opportunity to just leave innocently?

I am a little saddened by the course of events. I think of Luke 6:27-31 where Jesus says “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Is there any way to apply this passage to this situation?

Those aren’t my belongings to allow him to take. Everything he took belonged to the Center, not us. We just happened to be the stewards of the space at that hour. I so wish he had cooperated and left the stuff. Is it really worth going to jail over material gain? I was most troubled by the dishonesty, but I kept trying to give him an opportunity to come clean and express his real needs. Instead, he went all TNT-Leverage on us.

Academy Award Performance

As he’s being placed under arrest, that’s when the real theatrics begin. It starts with a cough. Then more coughs. He rocks back and forth toward the police car and it looks like he’s intentionally hitting his head on the outside of the car. Is he trying to bruise himself?

The coughs turns into yells.
“You’re killing me! You’re killing me!” he screams.
“Really?” the cop responds calmly.

We can all see that no one is killing anyone. Everyone is cool and calm and normal except our Academy Award performer. Does this stuff really work?

Whatever empathy I had kind of went out the window at that point. Not only have you lied to us, now you’re lying on law enforcement who’ve been nothing but professional and gracious. I didn’t believe for one second he was mentally disturbed. When I spoke with him, he was intelligent and clear and crisp. He thought fast on his feet. The entire morning had been one of deception.

All She Wrote

We return to church. We pray for our visitor. We pray for the Center. We pray for our community. We pray for those in need. We pray for the lost. We pray to be able to respond as Christ would in every situation. We pray to know when to give our cloak and when to call the cops. We pray for our law enforcement. We pray for everyone’s safety. We thank God that no one has been harmed… except maybe our visitor who purposefully hit his head on the car.

So that’s our latest adventure in the LaLa.
That’s all she wrote!
Hopefully your Sunday was less eventful, but worshipful none-the-less.

A little word of advice though: If you trespass on someone else’s property and decide to steal, if you’re caught in the act, it may not be the best decision to stop and pose for pictures. Just saying.

Onward & upward,
Naima

Got any adventures?
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© 2012 Naima Lett. All Rights Reserved