An Acclaimed Jennifer Lawrence Movie Just Hit Netflix
One of Jennifer Lawrence's most memorable performances is now on Netflix.
This article is more than 2 years old
Jennifer Lawrence fast became known as The Girl On Fire for the adaptations of The Hunger Games. Fans of X-Men know her as Mystique. While her work in these franchises got her name out there in a big way early on, she has also become known for some heavy-hitting award show fare. Before we would see her for the second time in either The Hunger Games or X-Men, we would see her in Silver Linings Playbook, one her most acclaimed films to date. That movie is now streaming on Netflix, where fans are rediscovering just how powerful a performance Jennifer Lawrence is capable of.
Silver Linings Playbook was based on a novel by Matthew Quick. It tells the story of Pat, a man who has recently been released from a mental health facility. He’s come home to live with his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. His parents and doctors want him to focus on himself. He is focused on winning back the affections of his estranged wife, a high school teacher. That’s when he meets Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. She is a recent widow with her own mental health struggles, but these days, she wants to enter a dance competition. She makes a deal with Bradley Cooper’s character. If you’ll enter this dance competition with me, I’ll help you get your wife back in your life.
You can see Jennifer Lawrence’s character in action in the trailer for Silver Linings Playbook below.
“You have to do everything you can,” says Bradley Cooper’s character. “And if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining.” The trailer shows off Jennifer Lawrence’s and Bradley Cooper’s characters and their struggles, but it only hints at how intense this movie and their performances will be. There are a few scenes in this movie that proved Jennifer Lawrence could act and where her vulnerability is shocking. This was a big role for the young actress.
At the time of filming, Jennifer Lawrence was 21 years old opposite Bradley Cooper’s 37 years of age. The director didn’t think that she was right for the role because of this, but her audition changed his mind.
The writer and director must have been happy that he made the decision to hire Jennifer Lawrence for the role, because this movie did very well by any metric you want to look at. Silver Linings Playbook earned $236 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $21 million. At the Academy Awards, it earned eight nominations, including the coveted categories of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Jennifer Lawrence took home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Today, audiences who are only just catching up with the film are still loving it, as is reflected in the 7.7 rating on IMDb and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics loved the film and were particularly impressed with Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Jennifer Lawrence.
Following their success on Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence immediately teamed up again with director David O. Russell for American Hustle. They then worked with him again, as well as Robert De Niro, for the 2015 movie Joy. Since the release of some of these bigger titles, and the end of The Hunger Games, it has seemed like we’ve heard less from Jennifer Lawrence. She appeared as Mystique in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, but her name isn’t in the headlines like it used to be. What’s she up to?
Actually, Jennifer Lawrence has a title coming out this year that will likely be a big deal for Netflix. The movie doesn’t have an official release date but is expected to release in 2021. In Don’t Look Up, Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio play two low-level astronomers who believe that an asteroid is going to collide with Earth, and people need to know. So, they go on a massive media tour. The dark comedy is coming from director Adam McKay, the creative who made The Big Short, Ant-Man, and Vice. While it’s unknown when Netflix will release Don’t Look Up, it seems fitting that they’re putting one of Jennifer Lawrence’s best performances on the streaming service before the new film releases.
