Silver Linings, The Film:

I was a big slut, but I'm not any more. There's always going to be a part of me that's sloppy and dirty, but I like that. With all the other parts of myself. Can you say the same about yourself fucker? Can you forgive? Are you any good at that?  
    -Tiffany

The Silver Linings Playbook is available on Netflix. I loved the film. The great thing about this story is that it introduces two dangerous characters that are willing to take action to get what they want. They're not passengers in life, they're drivers.

The opening scene introduces Pat. He's just getting out of a mental institution where he's been incarcerated for sometime for beating up his ex-wife's lover. As a condition of his release, he's required to live with his parents, take psychotropic medication, and see a psychiatrist regularly. Pat will do almost anything to win his ex back.

He exercises strenuously to lose weight he put on before his wife's affair. He already looks like he's in good shape. He reads novels because his ex is an English teacher and he wants to impress her with his knowledge of literature, and be able to compete with the ex's lover, who is highly literate.

While exercising and reading is admirable, Pat comes across as crazy, stupid, and violent. Nobody can get through to Pat that it's over with his ex, not his family, friends, or psychiatrist. But there is one person that finds a way through: Tiffany. Her great passion is dancing, but she needs a partner.

Tiffany at first attempts to use her beautify to get through to Pat, but it doesn't work and we learn something likable about Pat. He means what he says. He loves his ex and would do nothing to endanger his chances of reuniting with her. Pat cannot be seduced. It's his superpower. But Tiffany finds Pat's weak spot. She offers to pass a letter to Pat's ex and Pat cannot resist. As a condition for acting as Pat's liaison to the ex, Tiffany demands that Pat become her partner in a dance competition.

It seems a bit like dirty dancing, but it's more like crazy dancing and it works. Two thumbs way up.