Usually sports-related films are left by the wayside when it comes to Academy Award nominations, but this year things went a bit differently as the film "Silver Linings Playbook" was nominated for eight awards on Thursday.
The film revolves around actor Bradley Cooper, who plays Pat Solitano, a bi-polar man who has just been released from an eight-month stint in a mental hospital. He works hard at rehabilitating himself so that he can reconnect with his wife, who he is not allowed to contact due to a restraining order out against him.
Solitano, along with his father, played by Robert De Niro, are die-hard Eagles fans and during the movie Cooper attends a game at Lincoln Financial Field. De Niro's character is a sports gambler who bets everything on football games and is a superstitious type who needs everything a certain way so his Eagles can win. The two characters discuss the Eagles and the games they played in during the 2008 season, which is when the film takes place.
In the film De Niro mentions head coach Andy Reid, who was recently fired, while Cooper prominently wears a DeSean Jackson jersey throughout the film. De Niro's character is banned from Lincoln Financial Field for life and the film also features an important matchup of the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
There is also a main storyline involving Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Tiffany Maxwell, a socially awkward girl much like Cooper's character. She convinces him to help her participate in a dance competition.
The film was directed by David O. Russell, whose last film was another sports-related feature, "The Fighter", which starred Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale as boxer Mickey Ward and his trainer brother. "Silver Linings" also shares a city connection with a sports movie that wasn't forgotten during the Oscars with "Rocky", which also took place in Philadelphia and won Best Picture.
"Silver Linings Playbook" was nominated for numerous awards, including Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (David O. Russell), Best Supporting Actor and Actress (Robert de Niro and Jacki Weaver, respectively), Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), and Best Picture. The film also became the first picture to be nominated for four acting awards, best picture, writing and best directing since Warren Beatty's 1981 film "Reds", which chronicled the Russian Revolution.
Russell's previous film, "The Fighter", was nominated for a number of awards, including Best Picture and Director and took home two Oscars with Christian Bale and Melissa Leo winning the Supporting Actor categories.
"Silver Linings Playbook" was one of the top nominated films of the year, coming in behind "Lincoln", which scored 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg.
Although most sports films have been ignored by the Academy in the past, in recent years films like "Big Fan", "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings" have portrayed sports fans and sports-related stories in a more serious light, giving them a better chance at being nominated. "Chariots of Fire" was another sports-related Best Picture winner, while "Moneyball", a portrayal of the early 2000s Oakland Athletics, also scored a number of nominations last year, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill and Actor for Brad Pitt, who played general manager Billy Beane.
"Silver Linings Playbook" has been praised by many critics around the country, but there was a bit of controversy when the NFL decided to not to air an interview with the film's stars after objecting to the gambling depicted in the movie because of its storyline involving betting on a game between the Eagles and the Cowboys that had playoff implications.
"The segment was pulled because the movie included content related to gambling on NFL games," says a league rep according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The 85th Academy Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 24 and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane.
