Bradley Cooper has always been a bit of a mystery. On one hand, he’s the meathead who played Sack in Wedding Crashers and Phil in The Hangover, and on the other, he’s an Actors Studio-trained thespian with deep affection for The Elephant Man. And on a third, mutated hand, he’s Michael Ian Black’s lover in Wet Hot American Summer. The guy has just always been sort of rife with contradictions and a vague sense that maybe he’s a total douche but maybe he’s also a smart, sensitive, nice guy with actual talent. There hasn’t been a more definitive answer to the question ‘Who is Bradley Cooper?’ than in Silver Linings Playbook.
I’m not sure there are many other actors who could have played Pat, or at least they may not have made him this likeable. Cooper has the right kind of manic energy Pat requires but plays the delusions with such sweet sincerity and innocence that he becomes an endearingly sympathetic character instead of someone we’re meant to laugh at or see as just some crazy person. It’s necessary that he plays him this way because his tendency to cut straight through any sort of tactful BS needs to be refreshing, and it can only work if it seems genuine. It’s clear that Cooper is excited to finally get a screen character like Pat to play with, and should score him more freedom to choose similarly complicated roles he can devote his focus to.
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