Melissa Conley Leonard

I rarely post movie reviews but every time I watch this film, I just love it more. It’s in my Top 10. I read the book first and was a bit shocked when I heard they were making a movie of it. There are some things in the book (mainly Pat’s actual and savagely hilarious trigger song) that I saw no way to translate to the big screen. I was happily wrong. Every note rings true in this movie. From its depiction of bipolar, depression, obsessive codependency, even the Philly details are all on point. Jennifer Lawrence is something to behold and deserved her Oscar. And Bradley Cooper plays Pat with amazing charm and feeling. You actually believe what happens in this movie. It’s really one of the greats. You should watch it if you haven’t!

Found this while searching for something kinda mindless and spooky to binge watch and it was not at all what I expected. It starts really slowly but turns into a powerful, thought-provoking story about community, family, religious fanaticism, faith and redemption. And if you stick with it, it’s wildly terrifying too. On so many levels. The performances are uniformly excellent, every detail is beautifully and hauntingly portrayed-there are no shortcuts or loose ends here. But you WILL still be wondering exactly what it all means for days after you finish it. At least I am.