I knew that too many garlands and rose petals had been thrown at The Silver Linings Playbook in Toronto, and that the second wave of viewers would be less enthused. I just saw Silver Linings again this evening to see if this would happen, and it did. A couple of friends sat near me, and one sat there like a piece of granite and the other chuckled from time to time but as the lights came up said “it’s a really good film but no way it wins Best Picture.” “Who said that?” I snapped. “Nobody in Toronto said it would win. Everybody said it’s a likely nominee.”

These guys were so fucking snide and dismissive that I began to get angry. We were arguing in an underground parking lot. I started raising my voice and using expletives. They didn’t have to agree with me, of course, but they suggested that another contender (I won’t name it but it wasn’t Les Miserables) is a more likely Best Picture winner, and I began to lose it when I heard this. One actually described Silver Linings as a “made for TV movie.” Another compared it to Herbert Ross‘s The Goodbye Girl. I became doubly enraged at that. I mean, that’s a seriously thick thing to say.

On the other hand they’re both convinced that Jennifer Lawrence will not only be nominated for Best Actress but will probably win, and they also both feel that Robert DeNiro‘s performance is a likley Best Supporting Actor nominee. But their attitude really pissed me off. They were smirking and chuckling and being snide, and saying it got too formulaic at the end. (After all the hyper introspection and the jazzy anxiety, I welcomed true, settled-down feelings and a happy ending at the end of Act Three.) One actually said, “Jesus Christ, why didn’t they just cast Valerie Bertinelli and Tony Danza in this flick and put it on Lifetime?”

Unfuckingbelievable. But it’s my fault, I guess. Me and everyone else who creamed over this film in Toronto, I mean.