After achieving success directing The Fighter, David O. Russell returns to the quirkier area of comedy where he made features like I Heart Huckabees with his latest film, Silver Linings Playbook. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Pat, a man who’s living at home after an eight-month stay in a state institution. His goal: to reunite with his estranged wife, who’s filed a restraining order against him. Things get murky for Pat when he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow with her own set of challenges. There’s a lot going on in this film, but thanks to a quick pace, snappy dialogue, and winning chemistry between Cooper and Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook emerges as one of the funniest, freshest films of 2012. It’s already being touted as a heavy Oscar contender, and deservedly so. It’s definitely worth watching.