Oscars! Best Supporting Actor Candidate: Robert De Niro.

     The nominees for Best Actor/Actress in a supporting role for the Oscars this February are the following: Alan Arkin (Argo), Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), and Robert De Niro as well as Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook). This week we will be discussing Robert De Niro's performance.

     Silver Linings Playbook is one of the few films, in a long while, that have had a nomination in each acting category. Now, it's no secret that De Niro was one of the most besotted actors of his day. In 1974 he won Best Supporting Actor as Don Corleone in The Godfather Part II and in 1991 he  was nominated as Best Actor in Cape Fear. Overall, in a span of 17 years he was nominated six times and won two Oscars. However, it has now been 21 years since then. Personally, I am quite enthused about De Niro be nominated for his role as Pat Sr. in Silver Linings Playbook. 
     David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook is a film that features quirky characters. It immerses the audience to relate with a family, that is far from perfect, in these serious situations. It's quite odd at first but once you allow yourself to just watch the movie, the comedy-drama is really enjoyable. The actors and actresses seem to play their role with this passion. Their characters are awkward, but that is what the movie is about. The movie is mental, in more than one way.

     Now let us cut to the chase. De Niro acts --- is --- Patrizio Solitano. Pat Sr. for short. Now, Pat Sr. is an obsessive compulsive, sports-betting  Philadelphia Eagles fan. Out of his two sons, he shows nepotism for one but attempts to rekindle with Pat, with an ulterior motive here and there.
     Pat Sr. acts with spontaneity and unpredictability but maintains to keep a father figure role for Pat.

Pat Sr. loves his wife, Dolores, and you can immediately tell that they have been married for years not only from the way their house is set up but as how without a second thought he punched his own son for accidentally hurting her. In this scene I feel like De Niro allows us to have a connection with his character. Pat Sr. is set in most of his ways but he tries to better one-- his connection with Pat. I felt that in this scene De Niro actions and movements show the audience that the punch was not just for Dolores. It was for the safety of his own son, which in hindsight is ironic.
     De Niro acting role as Pat Sr. was well done. He allowed the audience to relate to his character and even get across the message of how, underneath it all, Pat Sr. was concerned for Pat. That was his silver lining to his character's jumbled up traits. None of the actions of his character seemed fake. Certain aspects of his character were what enabled us to relate to just the way Silver Linings Playbook was. I enjoyed the film, and De Niro is one of those reasons. His performance never faltered and the dialogue was motivating and quirky. Overall, I feel that De Niro's nomination is well deserved. Hopefully he gets more than a nomination, but you never know. Robert De Niro, you are one of best, and Silver Linings Playbook is something you should be proud of.