Cast: They pulled some surprisingly good performances out of this one. Bradley Cooper is hardly someone I dislike, but he's never done anything to wow me either. He held up quite well in the lead role to this one. He gets outshined by others in the cast. I can't blame him for that. Jennifer Lawrence is the heavy hitter here. She's on my list of actresses I don't particularly like but can't deny their talent. Some are calling her the Oscar front-runner. I have no issue with that. This should go without saying, but De Niro is fantastic in this. I haven't seen him this good since at least Everybody's Fine (but probably even further back).
Plot: What we have here is the story of a lot of damaged people that doesn't shy away from their problems that ends at a dance competition. Normally, this doesn't fit together. For this movie, it works somehow. I enjoyed it start to finish, although it's RomCom DNA does get in the way sometimes. The added stakes to the dance competition is where that's most apparent. That results in some tonal unevenness.
Elephant in the Room: This looks kind of depressing for a comedy. There's more than 5 laughs in the movie so, come awards season, this is going to be constantly called a comedy. The TV spots all make this into a romance. And, it is these things, but going in expecting just that will make for a lot of discomfort. Remember, this is from the same guy as The Fighter and it's not like he's completely changing tones.
To Sum Things Up:
Around this time of year, we hear all kinds of awards buzz and everyone claims that movie A or B is something special of the best [insert qualifier] movie. While I liked this movie a great deal, it didn't particularly stick out. There's some really good performances and a Philadelphia-centric plot. The best thing I can say about it is that it added some impressive edges to what is generally a pretty slight genre.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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