The Silver Linings Playbook

If only life could be as simple as the movies...

Pat Peoples has a theory that his life is actually a movie produced by God, and that his God-given mission in life is to become emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending – which, for Pat, means the return of his estranged wife Nikki, from whom he's currently having some "apart time". It might not come as any surprise to learn that Pat has spent several years in a mental health facility.

When Pat leaves hospital and goes to live with his parents, however, everything seems changed: no one will talk to him about Nikki; his old friends now have families; his beloved football team keep losing; his new therapist seems to be recommending adultery as a form of therapy. And he's being haunted by Kenny G.

There is a silver lining, however, in the form of tragically widowed, physically fit and clinically depressed Tiffany, who offers to act as a go-between for Pat and his wife, if Pat will just agree to perform in this year's Dance Away Depression competition...

The film will feature Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.

About the Author

In the six months that followed his leaving teaching and the Philadelphia area, Matthew floated down the Peruvian Amazon and formed 'The Bardbarians' (a two-man literary circle), backpacked around Southern Africa, hiked to the bottom of a snowy Grand Canyon, soul-searched, and finally began writing full-time. He has since returned to the Philadelphia area, where he lives with his wife and greyhound.