The Words

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

The Words (2012) is a story within a story within another story. It focuses on what is real and what is imaginative, and how this line can blur when an author creates characters that are so real they become more important than actual people in the writer’s life. It also deals with the talent to create a truly inspired work of art, and someone who would appropriate the work of another to make up for a lack of that unique ability. 

Writer Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) is doing a reading of his recently released novel, The Words. The question as the story unfolds is whose words are they? Hammond is telling us about a tale within the movie in which Hammond is a character. The film dramatizes the narration as Hammond says that there is an Old Man (Jeremy Irons, terrific in this role) watching in the rain as Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper, in a fine but not well known performance) and his wife, Dora (Zoe Saldana) exit a building in New York City. It appears to the Old Man that the couple was able to avoid the water drops, implying they were blessed by fate. At his dreary apartment, the Old Man looks decrepit, using a cane, and his medicine cabinet is filled with medications. In contrast the Jansens look picture perfect in their fine clothes as they ride in a limousine to a ceremony awarding Rory a prestigious writing award. 

Rory starts his acceptance speech by making an interesting statement, saying, “I simply tried to set down the truth as I imagined it.” Fiction’s connection to facts can be remote, as in fantasy stories. It is more aligned to them when dealing with tales that approach reality. But, even there, it is “imagined.” By insightfully portraying what people experience and feel, and how they behave, the author can demonstrate the “truth” about human existence. Rory says he hopes he can come up with something for his next book, an ironic statement, we later discover. There are cuts to the Old Man as he scans Rory’s novel, which implies that there is a connection between him and Rory’s story.

There is a cut back to Hammond who shifts the narrative to five years earlier so as to provide a backstory. The early part of Rory’s life as a writer is like those of others trying to be successful. Rory and Dora moved to Brooklyn after college. He starts out like most novelists, creating a story, doing the revising, and submitting his manuscript. But, in the meantime, he and Dora have little money. Rory approaches his father (J. K. Simmons) for some funds, and we discover it isn’t the first time he has gone to his dad for help. Rory doesn’t want to ask for cash since, like most people, he wants to make it on his own. He reminds his father that two years ago there was a decision to give the writing career a chance. His dad, like other parents in a similar situation, tells him the writing should now be a “hobby,” and he should work at something that brings in a steady income. His father gives in and writes him a check, but tells him it’s the last one. He tells Rory that part of being a man is to accept one’s “limitations.” That is a tough reality to accept because most young people have dreams that they want to live up to. But when is it okay to accept that not all hopes become real, with the possibility that prematurely failing to apply oneself means giving up too early? 

Hammond relates how Rory received nothing but negative responses to the submissions of his novel, or worst of all, “silence.” This last form is the worst kind of rejection because it implies that a writer’s work didn’t even warrant a comment. Rory gets a low-level job delivering mail and packages at a large publishing company in order to foster literary connections. He sort of half-jokingly tells a fellow worker, also an aspiring writer, that he writes “angry young men” fiction, which most likely mirrors his frustration at not getting published. 

Dora wonders one evening if Rory is going to write that night. He isn’t feeling like it, and so he may be accepting those “limitations.” Hammond says, “without even knowing it they had settled into their lives.” The operative word here is “settled,” which means no longer trying to strive for something more fulfilling. The couple marries and honeymoons in Paris. They stop to take a picture of a plaque which notes that Ernest Hemingway stayed at that spot. Being where one of the world's most famous writers lived brings with it awe and also envy on the part of another author. They stop at an antique store where Rory discovers an old soft leather briefcase. Dora loves it and buys it for him, and it eventually changes his life.

Rory continues to write, but there is disappointment on his face as he sits in front of his laptop. He has been at the publishing house job long enough that he is instructing trainees. He is overjoyed, as any hopeful author would be, when a literary agent, Timothy Epstein (Ron Rifkin), sets up a meeting with him and tells Rory that his book is very accomplished, and that he sees “so much truth” in his writing. But Epstein says the work is “interior,” subtle, and is a work of art, which, ironically, makes it too literary to be marketable coming from an unknown writer. It is the book business Catch-22 (which of course is the title of a famous book), that one can’t get published if the author isn’t already published. 

The movie itself comments on the writing process by showing us the difference between a successful story and one that isn’t. Up to this point, except for the mysterious Old Man, which keeps us invested, Rory’s story is not noteworthy, certainly not one that we would recommend reading. But that changes with what happens next. Rory finds a manuscript in the old briefcase that Dora bought him, which he reads. (IMDb notes that the first page is from Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Hemingway’s ghost haunts this film). Hammond narrates that Rory could not stop thinking about what he found, and that “he had been confronted by everything he had ever aspired to be, and the reality of what he would never become.” Despite the fact that Epstein praised his work, Rory is humbled by encountering a level of achievement that he knows he can’t reach. And he is infuriated by finding out, as he says to Dora, “I’m not who I thought I was.” He has the love and devotion for writing, but not the talent (which is a similar theme in the play and movie, Amadeus). It is crushing to believe that he is not the great writer he thought he was, and he has no other aspiration, so he feels lost. Dora, understandably, is hurt by his words since she thought their love in the nonfiction world was the cornerstone of their lives (which, of course is also not real, because Hammond made it up, who was also created by the co-screenwriters and co-directors, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Many layers here). 

Rory escapes his limitations by copying the found novel in an attempt to channel the revered anonymous writer through his typing. Hammond says Rory just wanted “the words to pass through his fingers, through his mind.” He even keeps the spelling mistakes. He places his thumbprint over the one on the original manuscript’s page, as if trying to be part of the tale’s uniqueness. Dora comes across his retyping on the laptop and believes her husband wrote the story. She is overwhelmed and tells him he is everything that he wanted to be. She says the new words show that he “stopped hiding. They're fuller, they’re truer, they’re more honest.” Rory’s own work was artistic, but an empty vessel, devoid of the emotional depth that, according to Dora, he shows in life. But Rory is not happy choosing a happy, though circumscribed life, over what a piece of accomplished fiction can bring him. Rory starts out by trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but after seeing how moved and adoring Dora is, he finds that he can’t disappoint her. Rory knows he can’t receive recognition for his own writing, so he decides to go for half of the dream by being the recipient of the praise of another’s work. His copying of the novel turns into replicating just the fame of a successful author. He submits the novel, called The Window Tears, about “A young man’s journey through love and loss in 1940’s Paris.” The book becomes a number one best-selling novel and garners critical acclaim. (It is interesting that the number two book on the best-seller list is entitled Buried Lies, an obvious echo of what is happening in the movie). He could have been honest and accepted his “limitations” honorably, but as Hammond says, “Rory Jansen had made his choice,” to become a fraud. The backstory concludes and Hammond says, “And then he met the Old Man.” Quite a teaser, as the author announces the end of part one. 

There is a break in the reading and we are now in the primary part of the story which deals with Hammond. While signing books, a beautiful young woman, Daniella (Olivia Wilde), approaches the author and obviously knows things about him, such as his favorite wine. He invites her to spend some private time with him during the intermission. She shows that she knows a great deal more about Hammond, including food preferences, and music and TV show favorites. She also knows that he is separated from his wife, but he still wears his wedding ring, probably because he has been married for quite a while, and clings to that past reality. Daniella sounds like a groupie, but she reveals that she obtained her backstage pass from her college professor, and she herself is an aspiring writer, having won the same literary award as did Hammond when he was younger. Is she similar to Rory in Hammond’s novel, a writer who hopes to be great at some point, admiring the work of another storyteller?

When the break is over and Hammond returns to the stage, the center of attention, which is where Rory hoped to be and found his way there under false pretenses. The Old Man rides the bus that Rory takes to New York City’s Central Park, and sits near him on a park bench. Rory is reading a book and the Old Man says he met the author, who they both agree should have been better appreciated, which is probably what Rory feels about his own writing. When Rory wonders out loud, “What happened?” to the author, the Old Man says, “life,” which also fits what happened to this stranger. He knows who Rory is as he pulls out a newspaper article that is about winning the writing award. The Old Man asks him how it feels to be so well known. Rory says it’s good to have one’s work recognized, but the irony is that it isn’t his. The Old Man says with a hint of sarcasm that God looked down on Rory and said there is a writer. Rory says that he wrote two other books that wouldn’t have been published if it hadn’t been for The Window Tears, which helped him get over that Catch-22 glitch that guarantees that nothing breeds success like success. The Old Man says that he read Rory’s book and felt like he was right there, tasting the wine, sitting in the cafe, making love to the girl, hearing the child crying, and longing for his distant home. After the man praises his writing, Rory feels a bit uneasy with this enthusiastic man, possibly out of guilt. He says he has to leave, and the Old Man asks Rory to sign his copy of the book. Rory doesn’t have a pen and the Old Man comments, “a writer without a pen,” which has the subtext that he is an author without the words.

The Old Man says he has “a story.” He says that if he told it to Rory and he wrote it he might be able to give the Old Man some credit. Rory’s response is, “Well that wouldn’t be fair, would it?” But that is exactly what Rory has done, and he starts to leave since The Old Man is cutting close to the bone now. The Old Man then drops the bomb which shows he is the writer of Rory’s novel when he says his story is “about a man who wrote a book then lost it, and the pissant kid who found it.” Rory sits down next to him.

The Old Man now is the narrator as we get to the third story of the film (so Hammond is narrating what another narrator is saying). He says there was a Young Man, a soldier (Ben Barnes), in Paris in 1944 who hadn’t seen action in WWII. The young man worked to rebuild sewer pipes after the German occupation, stressing how lowly his life was literally and figuratively. But he was happy doing these details with fellow soldiers. He became best friends with a scholarly fellow who lent him books that opened his mind up and planted the desire to be a writer. He then meets Celia (Nora Arnezeder). They only knew each other's word for “Yes,” which the Old Man says made it “the perfect relationship.” Here the Old Man suggests that when it comes to love, words, essential for a story, can become a problem when one chooses them over real people, as we shall see. The verbal communication between the two comes later as they rejoice in their time together. The Young Man was then discharged from the army and went back to his American home, working at a market. Back there, “nothing had changed,” but he had. His old life felt “small” after seeing other parts of the world, meeting Celia, and acquiring the desire to write. 

So, he started to write but he was not successful (like Rory?). He left America and went back to Paris and Celia. He started to be a journalist for one of the many publications hiring ex-patriots and the Old Man says it was “a good place to learn.” Perhaps writing about real people gave the Young Man the training to connect to others on a genuine level, which Rory’s writing does not achieve. (Here we have another reference to Hemingway and how he was a journalist in France, and also the time Rory saw Hemingway’s house in Paris). Even some of the shots of how the Young Man kisses Celia mirror Rory’s actions with Dora and both couples married after moving in together. Unlike Rory, the Young Man and his wife had a child, which adds more experience to his story as their two paths diverge.

When the Old Man hesitates, Rory wants him to continue, drawn into the story as he was by the Old Man’s novel, as we are drawn into Hammond’s book, and the story of the film as a whole. He says that the baby cried all the time, and they found out “my daughter” was hopelessly ill. So we now know what we suspected, that this story is what really happened to the Old Man. The grief from the death of the baby damages their marriage as Celia becomes numb and distant. She leaves to stay at her mother’s home. With another allusion to Hemingway, the Young Man reaches for his copy of The Sun Also Rises. It is Hemingway’s first novel which he wrote after quitting his journalism job, taking time alone, away from his family, in order to put all his effort into his fiction. 

The Young Man at first starts to toss stuff in his apartment in anger and despair. But on the back of Celia’s farewell note he starts to type his own work of fiction. His use of the other side of the piece of paper symbolically shows how he turns a negative into a positive, using his writing as a way to purge his pain and turn death into a creative birth. We even see the ink thumbprint that Rory noticed on the found manuscript page. The Old Man says words flowed out of the Young Man (himself) and, “The words became form, the form became whole,” and he completed the novel in only two weeks. After performing this healing process of the imagination, the Young Man slept and then went to be with his wife and gave her his book. But, she wasn’t ready to reunite and sent him back to Paris. She put the pages in the briefcase (the one Dora bought) and a little later decided to return to Paris and “start life over.” But she left the book on the train, which removes the possibility of beginning again for the Young Man, who felt the book “saved him.” The implication here is that he has lost a second child that he helped to bring into the world. 

He becomes angry with Celia and searches for the lost work (which is another connection to Hemingway, since his wife lost a collection of the author’s stories). The young man eventually left to go home, as Celia did when they lost their child. But, the Old Man says, he couldn’t write anymore because, “he was never able to set down one word that looked right to him.” The suggestion here is that he had written his book when there was a flood of emotion that channeled all of his feelings into the words on his typewriter, and after that, the inspiration receded. As the Old Man says, maybe he didn’t want to go “that deep again,” into the depths of that tormented ocean. He eventually found a sort of “peace.” But, just like a storyteller, he adds that’s when his tale became even more interesting. He says the Young Man was now the Old Man, himself, and he read Rory’s novel and knew that it was his words in the book. He says that he wanted Rory to know the story behind the story and maybe he now has the makings of another book (which is the one Hammond is telling), but the Old Man’s statement is sarcastic, implying Rory may steal from him again to write about the first theft of “the words.” 

The Old Man walks away and Hammond ends his reading at this point to draw the audience into buying his book (and the filmmakers hook us as we want to know what comes next). It also allows the movie to further develop Hammond’s character. Hammond sees Daniella waiting by herself, smiling, and the writer, who seduces others with his work, is also being seduced. He takes her to his elegant apartment, but he hasn’t unpacked since becoming separated from his wife. He is adrift, like the characters in his book. (Daniella picks up a baseball off of Hammond’s desk that Babe Ruth supposedly hit for a home run. IMDb notes that a similar ball is pictured on Rory’s desk. Has Hammond just used an object he owns as a prop in his story or does this coincidence suggest that maybe Hammond also stole another’s work earlier in his career and his current novel is a sort of confession?). He wonders why Daniella wants to be something “silly” like a writer, and says words “ruin everything,” which suggest how harmful they can be when they become more important than real life. He echoes what he says in his book about the perfect relationship being devoid of them. Yet his living uses words, so he is a living contradiction, revealing an almost self-loathing. She doesn’t have the patience to read the book and wants Hammond to tell her how the book ends.

He continues the narration to his one-person audience. Rory gets drunk so he can tell Dora that he didn’t write the book. He wants to know why she loves him because he is afraid that she really committed to him when she thought it was his story. He wants her to admit that she knew all along he couldn’t be that good a writer in order to assure himself that the book isn’t why she is still there with him. But she loved him before the novel and her pain and anger derives from his dishonesty. 

He even confesses his plagiarism to his publisher, Joseph Cutler (Zeljko Ivanek), and says he wants to take his name off of the book. The furious Cutler says a public admission will destroy Rory and him. He proposes a cover-up by saying Rory can pay the Old Man whatever he wants to ease his conscience, and assures him that writers have committed this crime before. Rory initially dismisses that notion, implying that just because someone does something wrong it doesn’t justify another to do the same. When he asks if the subsequent book that Cutler published, that was his own, is as good as the Old Man’s, Cutler’s silence tells Rory what he already knows about his limited talent. 

Rory discovers the Old Man working at a plant nursery, where things still live, as opposed to what happened to his child and his writing. Rory says he wants to make things right by removing his name from the book and give the Old Man the royalties. But the Old Man is angry about what Rory did in the first place, taking a part of his life, the “joy and the pain that gave birth to those words,” for Rory’s own benefit. The Old Man will not allow Rory a way to dispel his guilt. But, he is still a writer at heart, and feels compelled to tell Rory, an eager listener, like us all, that part of the story that is not in the book. He says he saw his wife one more time, and there is a scene which shows him as the Young Man on a train that stops at a station. A man, holding a child, approaches and kisses Celia, and the Young Man realizes that she has been able to move on, unlike him, and start a new family, a new life. Their eyes meet and they tentatively wave to each other as he pulls away from her forever. The Old Man says she looked happy which gave him pain, but also some relief since he discovered that he hadn’t permanently hurt Celia. He says that allowed him to not keep looking back. Rory feels the Old Man would have had a better life if he continued to write. But the Old Man responds with something that is significant to the theme of the movie. He says, “my tragedy was that I loved words more than I loved the woman who inspired me to write them.” Rory has made a similar choice, as have many artists who chose their creations over those important people that were in their lives. Maybe the art connects with others, maybe even changes them. But, the sacrifices can be awful. The Old Man tells Rory that everyone makes choices, but they, like Rory, have to live with the consequences. Before he goes, Rory tells the man, “I do love your book,” which personally acknowledges the Old Man’s ownership and talent with no selfish attempts to lessen Rory’s guilt. Hammond concludes by telling Daniella that Rory continued living his lie, and the Old Man died a couple of weeks after Rory visited him. There is a shot of Rory dropping the original manuscript into the Old Man’s open grave. Hammond says, “It was as if by locking off the secret of one man’s life forever, he had unveiled another much deeper and darker secret within himself.” The implication is that Rory enjoyed his success that was not earned, and lived with the more awful truth that he was the kind of person who allowed himself to benefit from such a deception.

Hammond says there is no moral attached to his story, and that someone can make a terrible mistake in life, and even live well afterwards. Daniella says that is “bullshit,” because everyone must deal with guilt. We then get images of Rory and Dora, but they are not from anything written, and seem to spring from Hammond’s mind. Daniella wants to know what Hammond really believes would happen if the circumstances in the story actually occurred in real life. Here is where reality and imagination begin to blur. Hammond angrily says she has manipulated herself into being with him and getting him to talk. After all, she, too, has a selfish agenda as she wants to further her career. He turns the question back onto Daniella, and wants to know how she thinks it would play out if the story was genuine. 

She gets her jacket to leave and says about Rory, “He’s fucked,” because even though he may continue to write, “he’ll never, ever believe it. He’s robbed himself of the chance to find out” if he will ever really be accepted on his own merits since he already achieved fame under false circumstances. She also suggests that “maybe his marriage falls apart because for him and his wife to look at one another is for them to look at the truth” about the lie they are living. Rory might, in public, be able to “wear that mask of confidence and sophistication, but back when he’s alone late at night, he can’t sleep, because when he closes his eyes he still sees the face of that old man.” Hammond encourages her as she speaks, as if mentoring her writing, and then contributes the possibility that, “maybe he sees his own face, and the old man is just a story he made up.” Hammond is now talking about himself. He has written his book because he has the same struggle as the Young Man and Rory. He continues by saying, “At some point, you have to choose between life and fiction. The two are very close, but they never actually touch.” 

 Hammond tries to have that real “touch” by kissing Daniella passionately, but, despite what he just said, Hammond pulls back as an image of Dora holding Rory’s face in her hands appears. Hammond moves away and says Daniella should leave. She understands and says that Hammond “never let her go.” He conjured up Dora, and he can’t give up that fantasy of her, since he created in fiction what he can’t have in life. He couldn’t write an unhappy ending for Dora and Rory because he is living through his fiction and thus he would also experience a sad finish. She throws his words back at him, asking what does he want, “life or fiction?” We then get flashbacks of romantic moments between Rory and Dora, and we know that the writer chooses the words. 

The next film is Laura.

Silver Linings Playbook

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012), directed by David O. Russell, who also wrote the adapted screenplay, is a dramatic comedy that starts with Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) in a psychiatric institution in Baltimore, Maryland in 2008 rehearsing what he’s going to say to his wife Nikki to try and win her back. His voice-over states that he used to live for Sundays when his mother would cook Italian food and the family would watch the Philadelphia Eagles play football. Sunday may be the day of religious worship for Christians, but in his family the praying is done to help the home team win. 

The story contains a theme about the blending of luck and with what people can do concerning their lives. For instance Pat has a psychiatric problem which he can’t change, but has to learn to deal with. As the story progresses, the film shows both Pat and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, in an Oscar-winning role) have messed up lives and the question becomes how can they overcome what happened to them and what they did to themselves. On the wall of Pat’s room at the mental hospital is the word “Excelsior,” which means “ever upwards.” It becomes Pat’s motto to improve his life. But there is also a trash bag on his bed, which he later wears while running which he says helps him with sweating. It also seems to imply that he has trashed his life, and he has to find a way out of the dumpster. Pat says, “This is what I learned at the hospital. You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, you have a shot at a silver lining” which can insulate you from a cloud of despair. It is an admirable idea, but Pat is so fixated on the positive at the beginning that he doesn't know how to navigate around the negative obstacles of reality.

Pat spits out his medication at the hospital because as he later says they make him feel “foggy,” which is reported by many people with mental conditions, and which causes them to quit taking their daily doses. Pat, in group therapy, says that we have to fight negativity which becomes a “poison,” and he wants to avoid its toxicity.  He works out, almost like a football player, only his training is for life. But his desire to be so positive seems forced because anything that does not seem optimistic sends him into a tailspin. His mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver), arrives to get him out of the treatment center, which she can do, but the administrator says that she will “assume a lot of liability in the eyes of the court.” So Pat’s situation is a serious one. Despite what the doctor says, Dolores doesn’t want her son getting used to the “routine” at the hospital because she most likely thinks it’s harmful for him to become dependent on that way of life. 

As he and his mother drive away, Pat wants to give fellow patient Danny (Chris Tucker) a ride back to Philadelphia. Danny notes that Pat said of his mother that she is “the mighty oak that holds the house together.” The statement implies that there is a need for someone to provide stability in an otherwise shaky family. Danny fast-talks about his drug and assault problems brought on by anxiety and attention deficit disorders. Danny is obsessed about his hair, comically not even wanting Pat to touch it in the wrong direction when Pat compliments its appearance. Dolores gets a call from the mental facility telling her that Danny wasn’t supposed to leave. Pat grabs the wheel when his mother wants to pull over and they almost get into an accident. The shot shows that Pat is still reckless and not on a steady course as of yet. 

Danny says it’s okay to bring him back to the hospital but even though Dolores is worried about getting into trouble with the courts, he is encouraging, saying she should still take Pat home. Pat wants to stop at the library to find out about Nikki’s English high school syllabus and read the books listed on it. It is a strange request which shows his fixated personality, and he continues to overcompensate in the process of “remaking” himself. 

Back at his house, Pat’s father, Patrizio (Robert De Niro), argues with an acquaintance, Randy (Paul Herman), about the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Their exchange is funny, as Randy says that Dallas is America’s team because what’s more American than “a cowboy.” Pat’s dad says Benjamin Franklin, the Philadelphian, is more American. Randy counters by saying nobody would know about Franklin if he wasn’t depicted on money. When Pat comes in he sees that a portrait of himself no longer hangs on the wall but sits on the floor. The image shows Pat and us that his father may be disappointed in his son. Dad is highly superstitious, as he is upset that his multiple remotes have been rearranged, which can lead to bad luck. This fact points to his obsessive-compulsive disorder and also adds to the fate versus free will theme. 

Dolores didn’t tell her husband that she was bringing Pat home, probably because he would give her a difficult time about it, which he does now, questioning if his son was ready to be released. Pat then turns the questioning around, surprising his dad by knowing about his financial situation. Pat asks how his father is going to open up a restaurant when he lost his job and is now unreliably trying to make money by taking bets as a bookmaker. The gambling angle also ties into the idea of placing faith in luck as opposed to making one’s own way in the world. In answer to his father’s question about what are Pat’s plans for the future, Pat says he will read Nikki's books so he can get his old job back and reconnect with his wife. His father says that Nikki sold her house and moved away, and that “she’s gone.” Pat repeats the word “excelsior” and says he will find a “silver lining,” since he wants to maintain his optimism. But, there is confirmation here that Pat is delusional about where he is searching for his happiness. 

Pat reads Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. When he finishes it he is outraged at the sad ending because the main character survives the war, lives with the love of his life, they have a baby, and then the woman dies. He throws the book and breaks the bedroom window as the novel falls to the ground. It is four in the morning, but Pat, in his agitated state, complains that Nikki taught a book that is very negative. Pats says he won’t apologize for waking up his parents, because it’s really Hemingway’s fault. His father humorously says Pat should have Hemingway call to say he is sorry. The movie suggests that not dealing with the hardships in life is an attempt to escape from reality. The story argues that both total negativity and extreme optimism can be impediments to a genuine life. 

Pat must go to therapy sessions as part of a deal for him to live at home. In the psychiatrist's office he hears Stevie Wonder’s song “My Cherie Amor,” which we find out was played at his wedding, a strange song for that event, since, as IMDb points out, it is about unrequited love. It does fit the current situation as Nikki does not return Pat’s feelings for her. Pat demands that the recording be turned off. He is belligerent and knocks over magazines looking for the music speaker, but then shows guilt for his uncontrollable actions as he attempts to put the material back in place. Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher) used the song to see if it was still a “trigger” for Pat. Despite Pat arguing that, “I am not the explosion guy,” he obviously still is. He says that his father is the “explosion” person, because Pat Sr. became involved in so many fights at Eagles’ games, he was banned from the stadium. So, we can see that there is a genetic link here. 

Pat says that he only had one angry confrontation, but Dr. Patel says one incident can be life changing. Pat argues justification because he came home from work early following a fight with the principal (which shows his combativeness is part of his behavior) and heard the Stevie Wonder tune playing (probably in his head as he saw clothing on the floor as he approached the bathroom). He found his wife was naked in the shower with a history teacher, Doug Culpepper. Since Pat was a history substitute teacher at the school and Culpepper was “tenured,” as Pat points out, he is actually revealing that he felt emasculated professionally and personally. Pat savagely beat the man after Culpepper suggested that Pat should leave. Some may say that Pat’s behavior was understandable, but assault is not a legal defense in this situation. Dr. Patel asks about his behavior before and after the attack. Pat had called the cops saying that his wife and the history teacher were plotting against him “by embezzling money from the local high school.” He grudgingly admits that accusation was a delusion. He was then diagnosed with bipolar disorder that brings out extreme “mood swings” that come during periods of “stress.” As he states that he really has been trying to deal with his manic-depressive problem his whole life, the camera focuses on his hands. He still wears his wedding ring, which shows he has not been able to accept the truth about his marriage and move on. 

Pat’s mother urges him to take his medications which he continues to resist because he doesn't like the way they make him feel. Those who have bipolar disorder don’t like blunting the energetic creative element which is unfortunately part of the mania aspect of the condition. His father wants him to sit next to him to get rid of the “juju” which is the negative energy that he believes hurts the Eagles. Both father and son wear good luck necklaces, but Pat says he doesn’t believe in bad luck now. His father says if he is Mr. Positive, maybe he can spread that feeling while watching the home team. Besides the remotes being on an end table in a particular position, Pat Sr. also holds onto a handkerchief as a good luck charm, while wearing his Eagles sweater. Pat points out his father’s OCD, and his dad denies his superstitious nature, all evidence to the contrary. The Eagles score a touchdown, and Pat Sr. cheers, saying his son came home because he was “meant to be there” since “everything happens for a reason.” His father has surrendered his autonomy to external determinism. Pat, trying to believe in his own ability to change things, says he didn’t have anything to do with the team’s performance.

Pat jogs past the school where he taught and calls to Nancy Metzger (Patsy Meck), the high school principal, telling her he is ready to go back to work. He is overly exuberant and comes on strong. She is alarmed to see him and tries to back away. He asks if Nikki is still working there but she is unable to divulge that information. He seems oblivious to his unwanted presence. She says it looks like he lost weight and he is so pleased that she noticed that he tries to hug her and she recoils. In order to put him off, she says that things will work out in time for him and “it will be all good.” He doesn’t realize she is appeasing him, and instead takes her comment “as a silver development,” the color of success for him. 

Pat encounters his friend Ronnie (John Ortiz), who says he is glad to see him and would like to have someone to talk to (which indicates that his life is not so good, either). He also says his wife Veronica (Julia Stiles) wants to invite Pat to dinner. Pat doesn’t buy it since he says he knows Veronica hates him. Pat is frank when he speaks, as he says that Nikki said Veronica keeps Ronnie’s “social calendar where she keeps his balls: in her purse.” Ronnie first denies this emasculation reference but after Veronica calls out demanding to know what he’s doing he humorously admits, “OK, it’s a little true.” But Veronica actually did invite Pat, as she calls out of the upstairs house window asking about the dinner while at the same time ordering Ronnie inside. Pat, still obsessing over Nikki, wants to know if Veronica is still in touch with his wife.

Back home, Pat says things are looking good because he believes that Veronica invited him to dinner so he could reconnect with Nikki. His father may have positive feelings on acquiring good luck, but he is skeptical of Pat’s clouded optimism. He warns Pat that Nikki may be with Culpepper still. Pat refuses to hear any negativity. A policeman, Officer Keough (Dash Mihok), appears at the house reminding Pat that he has a restraining order against him and he shouldn’t visit where he used to work. Pat’s mania just sees these restrictions as unnecessary obstacles as he can’t look beyond his obsession to show that he is fine now. He acts as if whatever negative events occurred in the past are inconsequential to what is presently happening.  

Dr. Patel wants Pat to realize he will either be in jail or back at the mental hospital if he keeps behaving the way he has been. Pat says that Nikki is just waiting for him to get back in shape. Pat’s physical fitness is a metaphor for his becoming mentally fit, too. He says when he reaches that goal, everything will be back to the way it was. Patel tries to make him understand that Nikki may not ever come back and that he needs a “strategy” to deal with that possibility. Pat ignores him and just talks about deciding to wear an Eagles jersey despite its informal appearance to Veronica’s dinner party. It’s possible that at least subconsciously for Pat the sports shirt can emanate a sense of victory so he can be seen as a winner for Nikki. 

Pat shows up at Ronnie’s, but his positive confidence crumbles a bit as he has insightful second thoughts about the inappropriateness of the jersey, especially when Ronnie shows up at the door wearing a tie. Ronnie says the jersey is fine, but Veronica points out it isn’t the right look for dinner, verifying Pat’s realistic misgivings. Ronnie spent a lot of money redoing the house to please Veronica and at first acts like there is financial opportunity in flipping real estate. But, he admits in private that he feels “crushed” by the “pressure” because of the job, his new baby, and his family as a whole. So, the film implies that what appears to be an accepted, normal way of life may also lead to mental anguish, and that what seems to be overtly abnormal may not be as odd as it looks. Ronnie says, “you can’t be happy all the time,” which upsets Pat, who is Mr. Mission Happiness. Ronnie says, “You just do your best, you have no choice.” His remark notes where free will and fate seem to meet. It suggests one can only do so much and then the variables of life take over. At the end of this conversation, Ronnie springs the fact that Veronica’s sister. Tiffany, is coming over, and her husband, Tommy, died, which throws those uncontrollable variables right at Pat.

Pat is very awkward when complimenting Tiffany Maxwell (the first name can mean the lamp which is beautiful but fragile, and the last name may suggest that she may be a person that can be of maximum benefit) about how she looks because he says he didn’t do that enough with Nikki and he is now practicing for getting back with his wife. Besides losing her husband she also lost her job. Her life is full of negativity, and it is a discoloration on Ray’s attempt to see the world through those rose-colored glasses. The camera mirrors Pat’s observations of Tiffany as he notices her cleavage. Tiffany’s response to her plight is sarcasm and anger. When Veronica plays a guessing game about what turns out to be a strangely designed fireplace, Tiffany jokes that it's a morgue drawer, which reflects her morbid state of mind. Pat’s abrupt bipolar shifts have him rambling inappropriately as he notes that he isn’t allowed to have a phone, most likely due to his stalker tendencies, but he says if he did carry one he would call Nikki. He repeats her name so often it’s almost like a mantra, which annoys Tiffany. 

Ronnie and Veronica attempt to stress the attributes of Pat and Tiffany, (his knowledge of U. S. Presidents and her dancing ability), maybe to help them be positive or become interested in each other. Tiffany keeps showing her anger by not liking her sister talking about her as if she wasn’t there, but then realizes her overreaction and apologizes, which demonstrates she has multiple sides to her character. But, she and Pat go dark as they compare medications, a dysfunctional area on which to find common ground. Tiffany, most likely not seeing any possibility of a good evening in her sister’s house if psychiatric medications are the highlight of conversation, abruptly says she is tired and wants to go home. But, she may also be interested in Pat and wants to be alone with him. So, she asks him if he is ready to walk her home. Her abrupt shifting of conversation prompts Pat, ironically, to comment that she has poor social skills. She sees the irony and tells him he acts inappropriately the majority of the time. He responds by saying accurately that he is honest (which doesn’t justify his lack of social grace), whereas she is “mean.”

Pat walks her home anyway and she tells him she knows that he is attracted to her by the way he looked at her. She says critically on one hand that she hates his football jersey, but then in a shift that matches Pat’s swings, says he can have sex with her with the lights off. The lack of revealing inner feelings here is evident, and she seems to be using sex as an escape from her anguish. He is taken aback, and asks how old is she? Her response is defensive, and is actually an attack against him, saying that she was “old enough to have a marriage end and not wind up in a mental hospital.” He admits that she is “really pretty,” but he can’t move forward because he has weighed himself down by the delusional anchor that his marriage is still viable. He raises his hand showing his wedding ring, which she also does. When she says she is just as married as he is, which is not at all, he thrusts the sad fact that it’s different because her husband is dead. She breaks down, cries, hugs him, but he seems confused, unable to show empathy because in his own way he is selfishly focused only on himself. She is angry at revealing her hurt and his not being able to comfort her, and she unleashes her anger by slapping him.

Even though that slap was figuratively an attempt to make him snap out of his self-denial about Nikki, Pat’s troubled response is to go home and look at his wedding ring, seeking a refuge against the pain of reality. He wants to desperately dive back into those reassuring historical waters by manically waking up his parents and the neighborhood in a loud quest to find his wedding video. But that looking backwards contradictorily conjures up horrible memories of surprising his wife in the shower with Culpepper and his attacking the man. That violence spills over into the present as Pat knocks his mother down in his hysteria. The aggression in Tiffany's slap escalates now into a fight between Pat and Pat Sr. as the father’s anger problem literally confronts his son’s disability. (Pat Sr. also threatens a young man from the neighborhood for trying to record the incident, but then says he is sorry for his anger, mirroring his son’s behavior, and stressing the familial psychiatric problems). Pat realizes how out of control he is and shouts out, “I’m sorry,” probably for present and past actions. Officer Keough shows up following numerous complaints from the neighbors, and Pat pleads that the officer not report the incident, realizing public knowledge of his actions would hurt his reunion with Nikki. He wants to still believe despite all evidence to the contrary that he is ready to be with her again and that she will accept him as he is now. 

After the outburst of the previous night, Pat starts to take some medication again. As he jogs, he passes by Tiffany’s house. She appears unexpectedly and surprises Pat. He is drawn to her but that attraction also makes him want to repel her because it threatens his daunting quest to win back Nikki. He said he was honest, but maybe only about his assessment of others, and not about himself. She calls him on his “bullshit” and in response to her reminding him of his reality, he calls her a “slut.” He realizes his nastiness, and again apologizes. She admits to having been a slut, but declares that is in the past. However, she is not in denial about herself, as she says, “there will always be a part of me that’s sloppy and dirty, but I like that, with all the other parts of myself.” She questions if he has that ability to see the totality of himself, and “forgive” his faults, and accept responsibility for his shortcomings alongside his attributes.

In his next session with the psychiatrist, Pat wants the doctor to deliver a letter to Nikki, which he obviously can’t do because of the restraining order, another example of Pat’s disconnect with reality. The psychiatrist questions that maybe Pat is critical of Tiffany because a relationship with her threatens his desire to be with Nikki. Pat dismisses the argument, again calling Tiffany a “slut.” The doctor tries to appeal to Pat’s “silver linings” approach and, thus, Pat’s self-interest by suggesting that if he is nice to Tiffany, it will show that he is becoming a kind, upstanding individual. Since Tiffany, Ronnie, and Veronica know Nikki, his exemplary behavior will get back to his wife.

It's Halloween which has people wearing masks, which is what Pat has been doing, pretending that he can be perfect for Nikki. He is even wearing his trash bag costume, as usual, which for him aids his workout so he can appear well balanced, but that conveys the exact opposite to anyone else who sees him. But, Pat now uses what his psychiatrist has said. When Tiffany surprises him again while jogging, she says she just wants to be friends. He asks her to eat dinner with him at the nearby diner, and she agrees to meet him that night. 

Dinner turns out to be Raisin Bran for Pat and tea for Tiffany. Pat is obviously not committing to a meal which would suggest something more substantial both digestively and romantically. As he says, he didn’t want her to think this was “a date.” He goes out of his way to deny any romantic urges he may feel for Tiffany. He asks about her dancing “thing,” but she knows he isn’t really interested so her sarcastic response is, “How’s your restraining order?” He keeps repeating the same litany about how well he is doing and is on his way to getting back with Nikki. He wishes he could just get a letter to her to convince her of his worth. Tiffany pauses, and one can see she is thinking about a plan. She says she could get the note to Nikki, and he is thrilled. She wants to stress what a big favor it is she is doing for him by saying she would be breaking the law by cooperating. She then says she is not on good standing with her family because she lost her job by “having sex with everybody in the office.” She knows how to pique his prurient interest, and he takes the bait by asking how many partners, and if women were involved. He sees that she is not upset about talking about her sexual past. This leads him to actually admit something negative about Nikki who made him feel perverted when he expressed sexual fantasies. Tiffany said that she was very depressed after her husband died which implies she acted out by being promiscuous. She was fired for her disruptive behavior and placed on medications. Pat again connects with her by saying he felt guilty about having to take his drugs, and they both somehow feel like failures because of that. She even seems to want to show she is getting on board with his paranoia when he suggests that Veronica’s dinner party may have been a “test” to see if he could resist Tiffany and thus is worthy of getting Nikki back. When she tries to solidify a connection with him by saying that they are alike, he refutes the notion and is condescending. He says that he hopes Veronica didn’t lump him with Tiffany when talking to Nikki. Tiffany is really pissed off since she realizes he is saying that he thinks she is crazier than he is. He has again failed to be empathetic. She does a Jack Nicholson from Five Easy Pieces and clears the table, and tells him to forget about the letter idea. She then storms out, showing that she is just as capable of making a loud scene as he is, so they really are alike in that way. 

He follows her out and tries to justify his antisocial behavior to her. He says he said what he told her because he didn’t want Nikki to get the impression that he, too, was promiscuous by being compared to Tiffany. She again cuts through his rationalization, pointing out that he liked to hear about her physical encounters. She says he is “afraid to live,” and calls him a “hypocrite,” implying he pretends to have more noble urges than she. She says he is really “a liar” which suggests he is false with others and himself. She tells him she opened up to him and then he judged her. Her behavior shows that she was looking to make a connection, hoping their outsider status would make him more compassionate, but he failed her test. She then shouts out in front of a movie theater that he is harassing her. The crowd starts to manhandle him, and Officer Keough rides up (is this guy always in the vicinity where Pat is?) and threatens him with going back to the mental hospital. “My Cherie Amour” is playing and he admitted to her earlier the bad association the song has for him. When Keough says Pat is sick, she shows her compassion and comes to his aid by saying he didn’t do anything wrong. She then tells Pat he’s okay and that he can’t let the song have that monstrous power over him. She repeats that there is no song, and the soundtrack mutes the singing as Pat relaxes. They both apologize, which they both seem to need to do often because of their uncontrollable outbursts. After the policeman recognizes Tiffany, and knows about her reputation, he makes a play for her. This time Pat comes to her defense, saying she isn’t promiscuous anymore. She walked away from the cop, and Pat catches up to her. He says he didn’t mean what he said in the diner, and she says she knows, and will get his letter to Nikki. 

Pat Sr.’s OCD is in full swing as he gets frantic about one of his missing envelopes, which he uses for his bookie enterprise. Pat took it to put his letter to Nikki in it and he is off to give it to Tiffany. He jogs holding a football like he’s ready to score a touchdown in his love life. Pat’s over-the-top part of his personality is in high gear as he pounds on Tiffany’s door and calls for her. When Tiffany’s parents answer the door they are hostile, most likely due to the many men who have come calling following their daughter’s loose sexual behavior. Another man shows up saying he wants to see Tiffany and informs them they dated. Tiffany is inside and hears Pat being protective of her, as he says she is trying to mend after being hurt and the other man should realize that and be a better person by not exploiting a sensitive, smart, artistic person. However the man does say that she just texted him, so despite the fact that Tiffany said she is no longer using sex as an escape, she is still vulnerable to that form of acting out.

Pat jogs away and Tiffany runs past him. He complains that she wasn’t at her house to accept the letter. Tiffany complains that she does things for others but she hasn’t received anything in return. So, she’ll deliver the letter if he dances with her in a competition, which her late husband never would do. This fact shows a failing in her marriage. Tiffany then asks Pat, probably trying to pierce his delusion, about how he and Nikki are in love (since they are not together). Pat, despite praising the great chemistry in their relationship, then reveals how much the couple wanted to try to change each other. He didn’t like the way she dressed, and how she acted superior to him. Nikki wanted him to lose weight and stop his mood swings, which he says he’s done (all evidence to the contrary concerning the latter). They would fight and not talk for a couple of weeks at a time. She tried to make him more “passionate and compassionate.” He keeps rationalizing, saying that it was “normal” for all of this discord between a couple. (Cooper is great at spewing out his dialogue, showing the manic aspect of the character’s bipolar disorder). Tiffany lets all of this go and just uses Pat’s declaration that he is now his best self by saying that if he is now “amazing” he should think about doing the right thing and help her with the dance contest.

Danny has been released from the mental hospital and shows up on game day at the Solitano house. This scene is very funny as Pat Sr. has an exact spot for Danny to sit holding two remotes a certain way to bring good luck to the Eagles. Pat’s friend Ronnie is there, too, and after saying Pat should avoid Tiffany because she has had a lot of therapy, Pat says he was in therapy, too, so Ronnie shouldn’t judge so harshly. He is again coming to her defense, as well as his own. Ronnie says when he feels that immense “pressure” he talked about, he goes to the garage and listens to Metallica and Megadeth, and (as he starts to weirdly simulate a shaking fit) says he “starts breaking shit.” Not exactly the poster boy for what passes as a “normal” life. He calls it his therapy, so even though he officially does not seek counseling, his outwardly respectable life needs help. Pat tells him that fact, but then retreats from reality again, saying he and Nikki will not have those issues, even after he admitted all the problems he and his wife had to Tiffany.

Jake, Pat’s brother, comes down the stairs, surprising Pat. Jake has not been there for Pat, not showing up at the hospital because he finds those places uncomfortable. So, in a way he tries to escape reality, too. He says that he is there to help their father establish that restaurant to show that Pat Sr. has a legal front to protect his gambling enterprise. Again, the wall of normalcy is what is sought and which people such as Pat and Tiffany openly shatter and are thus considered a threat. The pompous Jake lords his doing well at his firm, getting engaged, and buying a new house over Pat, who has lost his job, wife, and home. But those socially lauded accomplishments have not made him a more understanding, compassionate person. Pat Sr. cuts Jake’s speech short (though not short enough), showing concern for his son. Pat, showing improved calm and unselfishness, says, “I’ve got nothing but love for you, brother,” and hugs Jake. But they all warn him about the restraining order and Tiffany. Pat then shows insight when he announces that he, Danny and Tiffany, the misfits, may “know something that you guys don’t know, OK … Maybe we understand something.” Their perspectives looking from the outside at what is supposed to be the way to live allows them to see the faults prescribed by society. Just then society intervenes as Keough says he has to take the friendly Danny back to the institution because he has to appeal his interpretation about the Mental Hygiene Law. In contrast, Pat Sr., who is not facing admittance to the psychiatric facility, displays his craziness about how taking Danny away will jinx the Eagles' lead in their game. The suggestion is that some people outside the mental ward may be more in need of psychiatric help than those inside (which is the theme of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).

Pat goes to Nikki’s converted garage that she has turned into a dance rehearsal studio. She also lives upstairs, so even though it is her parents’ address, she has withdrawn from society because of her socially unacceptable ways. Pat still tries to get out of the dance deal, offering to substitute another service. Tiffany doesn’t waiver. He swings back to being self-serving when he is with Tiffany, interrupting her by asking when is she going to deliver the letter he has brought, in which he noted what he is doing for Tiffany in order to ingratiate himself with Nikki. His appearance of an unselfish act is really for selfish reasons. Tiffany knows how to work the situation and says that he should walk toward her slowly without talking, pretending she is Nikki. Under his breath he says, “you’re not Nikki,” which can seem like a sarcastic rejection, but given his hidden attraction for Tiffany and his already stated problems with Nikki, his fighting his feelings for Tiffany can be a compliment. 

She makes him walk to her without looking up until he is within kissing distance and he looks at her. She says what he senses is “a feeling.” He denies it, but it is a lie because in his eyes is passion. She then tells him that she loved her husband but started to lose interest in sex because she didn’t want children, saying she could hardly take care of herself, revealing her insight into her character. Her husband bought some lingerie to spice things up and on his way back from Victoria’s Secret, he generously stopped to help someone change a tire and was hit and killed by a car. She says that caring act generated, “a feeling.” Her painful confession seems to jar him back to his empathetic side and wins his cooperation. 

There is a montage of Pat and Tiffany practicing as the soundtrack plays the duet sung by Boy Dylan and Johnny Cash from Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album, the singing of the pair likened to the dancing of the couple. At the end of a session he sees the bare back of Tiffany in a mirror as she changes. His desire for her shows on his face, but he runs out of the studio, putting distance between his feelings for her so he can return to his plan to win back Nikki. He lies on his bed, probably in anguish about his mixed feelings. 

Pat is still trying to catch up on Nikki’s English class syllabus, and has a copy of the Lord of the Flies with him when he goes to Tiffany’s studio. She throws it outside, repeating in a way what he did with the Hemingway book, but for different reasons. She says he isn’t reading on her time. She shows that she knows the book by summarizing the novel’s disturbing story, pointing out, “humanity is just nasty and there’s no silver lining.” Of course that harshness is totally counter to Pat’s recent “Excelsior” philosophy. But it doesn’t bother Pat, surprisingly, and instead of reacting as he did to the Hemingway book, he praises her synopsis. He may be allowing insightful light to shine in his view on things.

Danny shows up at Tiffany’s place because he was able to successfully argue his way out of his commitment, showing that sometimes one can buck the system. He notes that Pat wrote to him about Tiffany in a letter, which betrays his emphasis of only sending a letter to Nikki, and reveals Pat’s interest in Tiffany. Danny watches the two rehearse and offers helpful tips as he dances with Tiffany. Pat cuts in showing there is some jealousy. 

Pat Sr. wakes his son up to say they have to be together to have the positive feeling Pat has to rub off on the Eagles. It sounds like just more of his superstitious nonsense but he follows with him tearfully admitting he didn’t spend enough time with Pat, spent too much time with Pat’s brother, and couldn’t handle Pat’s psychiatric condition. He believes in the luck stuff, but he is also using it as an excuse for the two of them to have time with each other now that they didn’t have in the past and to get Pat better. Pat Sr.’s pal, Randy, who seems to want to take advantage of Pat Sr.’s superstitious ways by betting against him, says that Pat Sr. is betting his savings on the Eagles’ game with the Giants. Pat’s dad wants his son to go with his brother Jake to the game to enhance the good “vibe.” Pat Sr. says it’s like a family business, and there is a feeling of the family fighting against its dysfunction since Jake wants Pat to go with him and his friends, showing he is not embarrassed by his brother’s behavior. But, Pat has divided loyalties now as he promised to work with Tiffany on Sunday and he admits that his meetings with her make him “disciplined and focused.” 

Pat asks Tiffany if he can spend part of Sunday at the game for his father because his dad says the “juju” on the Eagles is being messed up by Pat spending time with her. She again uses the Nikki leverage, saying she responded to Pat’s letter but he can’t read Nikki’s letter until they nail their big dance “move.” Unfortunately the acrobatic stunt is not coming together, so Nikki lets Pat read Nikki’s letter out loud at his request. She warns that the usually positive Pat will go negative after reading it, so she feels she, in a move unusual for her personality, must encourage him to stay “positive.” The letter is very complimentary about how Pat has worked hard to show how much he wants to get back together. She disagrees with his assessment of her reading list concerning the negativity in the books. She feels that they expose how harsh life can be, which is what Pat has trouble confronting. Nikki still feels that his words aren’t enough, and Pat would have to show her something more to even consider resuming their relationship. Tiffany tells Pat that the dance contest will show “focus, collaboration, discipline,” and his following through would be for Nikki’s sake. He deluded himself into thinking his letter would do the trick with Nikki and swings toward depression, saying he can’t do any more practice that day. But, he does promise to return tomorrow, showing that Tiffany and the dancing still are helping him hold onto his sanity.

On his way to the Eagles game, Pat wants to call Tiffany because he wants to let her know he will be a little late. His father sees her as an impediment to the father-son-Eagles alliance. He says that Pat will be fine if he just stays out of a fight, which means he shouldn’t be like his father. At first the tailgate time seems positive as Pat meets with his pal Ronnie, Jake and his friends (although they make jokes about Pat just getting out of the mental hospital). Fittingly, given the sports setting, Pat gives a pep talk before the game to Ronnie to encourage him to work on his marriage. Pat even meets his psychiatrist who is also a huge Eagles fan. But, again that harshness of life that was noted in Nikki’s letter invades the joyful part as a fight with racist elements breaks out and Pat gets involved in the brawl after Jake gets hit. 

So Pat and his cohorts were not allowed to get into the stadium after the mayhem. When they return home, Pat Sr. loses it, saying how everything is ruined and Pat is “a loser,” which is just the opposite of what he had said earlier to him. He can get as much out of control as his son, so again the genetic factor is in play. Tiffany is livid that Pat did not show up to practice, and she bursts into the Solitano house, yelling at Pat for not honoring his commitment. Pat Sr. says that the Eagles “juju” fell apart ever since Pat started seeing her. Tiffany now shows her ability to win on her opponent's playing field. She has the statistics to back up that every time she and Pat were together either the Eagles or the Phillies baseball team won, and if he had been with her that day, he wouldn’t have gotten in a fight, and maybe the Eagles would have triumphed. She also informs them that the word on the official New York state seal is “Excelsior.” So, she argues, if she’s “reading the signs,” it’s stupid to send a guy to a game where the opposing team’s state slogan is the same word as the guy’s motto. Even Pat Sr. is impressed, and now says he likes Tiffany.

Randy says he feels badly about how he won so much money on the Giants game and offers a bet on the next game for Pat Sr. to win it back. Tiffany, who won’t let anyone get away with a fake line, says Randy isn’t being compassionate, that he has beaten her own father at betting, and gets off on the misery of others. Tiffany offers a different bet against the Dallas Cowboys, Randy’s favorite team, in the last game of the season. Randy is reluctant, and Pat Sr. gets carried away, even offering a ten-point spread for the game. But Randy wants to link the football game to the dance competition, so that Pat Sr. needs to win both contests. Earlier, Pat’s father talked about how Benjamin Franklin was more patriotic than cowboys, and the dance competition is at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. So for Pat Sr., the “juju” seems right. But Pat and Tiffany must score a five out of ten, along with the Eagles winning, for Pat Sr. not to lose the bookie business and the restaurant. Pat says it’s a crazy bet and walks out saying he won’t participate, while Tiffany repeats she’s the one “reading the signs” and he has to do it.

We now find out that Pat’s mom told Tiffany where Pat was running, so there was a bit of a conspiracy between Dolores, Veronica and Tiffany to get the two involved. And Pat Sr. now agrees with Tiffany that the only way to show Pat that “he can live his life without ruining it” is to lie to him by saying that Nikki will be at the dance competition. Outside Pat looks over Nikki’s letter again because something is nagging at his memory. He sees the words “reading the signs” in the letter. Recalling how Tiffany just used those words, he knows that it was Tiffany, not Nikki, that wrote the letter to him.

Even though Pat knows about Tiffany’s deception about the letter, or maybe because he sees that she is trying to help him, he finishes the dance practice. It is Christmas, a silver lining time in the doldrums of winter, as they get ready to compete. Pat Sr., Dolores, and Jake show up at the competition, as well as Dr. Patel and Danny. Randy is elated because the dancers there look exemplary as they warm up. They also monitor the football game. Pat Sr. is like a coach, just as his son was previously, trying to inspire his players, Pat and Tiffany. So, athletics and art are joined in this story since both seek to reach a goal despite obstacles that stand in the way. 

As they go to check in, Pat and Tiffany hold hands without realizing they automatically joined their fingers together, which shows their moving toward being together. Veronica is also supposed to be there, but when Tiffany goes to find her, the lie becomes a reality, since Nikki is there, too. Tiffany now shows how much she is trying to win over Pat for herself as she is very upset with Veronica for bringing Nikki. Veronica says if Nikki sees how well Pat is doing, she may lift the restraining order, and Ronnie says that Pat told him that one should fight to save a marriage. Tiffany is so upset she goes to the bar for some drinks. A man there buys her a drink and she flirts with him as she starts to fall into her old way of dealing with loss.

Pat Sr. celebrates, as Randy looks unhappy, when they hear that the Eagles have won 44 to 6 in their game against Dallas (which actually happened). As Pat observes the skill of the dancers, he sees Nikki sitting with Veronica and Ronnie. But, significantly, he does not run over to her table to desperately ask for her to come back to him. Instead he goes searching for Tiffany since they are about to dance, which shows his focus has changed. He sees her at the bar, and shows he is upset with her for drinking just as their names are called. She says that she used to think that he was the best thing that happened to her, but now says he is probably the worst, showing how she rose up on hope and now is crashing on disappointment. But, Pat sees past her words and drags her to the dance floor to show them both they are partners. The dancing is “rebellious” like Tiffany, but it also shifts from energetic to slow, like bipolar swings to mirror Pat’s personality. As they dance the camera shows how they focus on each other and there is passion and joy in their dancing. But, that difficult jump move at the end of their routine does not work out very well, which leads to the suspense as to whether they can earn the score needed for Pat Sr.’s win, and for the couple to feel like winners.

They score exactly 5.0, and the announcer expresses that he is sorry about the results. In contrast, Pat, Tiffany, and the others with Pat Sr. cheer wildly, showing that people don't have to finish first to be champions in life if they beat the odds that would deny finding happiness. Tiffany hugs Pat and tells him she is thankful and that he was “amazing.” He leaves her to now confront Nikki. She acknowledges he has lost weight and looked good on the dance floor. He lets her know he is on his medication and is in therapy, and has been reading books on her class list. He then leans in and whispers into her ear. Tiffany observes Pat and starts to walk away as Johnny Mathis sings about getting “Misty,” which fits Tiffany’s emotions. 

Pat is no longer there to win Nikki back. It is sufficient for him to show her that he has reached a good place. He looks for Tiffany and Pat Sr. tells him she left. His father tells Pat that sometimes there are “signs” (Sleepless in Seattle comes to mind here) that must be recognized, and that he can’t miss this opportunity to be with Tiffany because she loves him. Pat Sr. is talking here about something beyond luck or superstition. It is about seizing those rare moments that can put life on the right path for individual fulfillment. 

As in all romance movies, one person at the end must run after the other. Pat catches up with Tiffany. He didn’t need his father to tell him to go after her. He hands her a letter he wrote a week ago confessing he knew she wrote the letter that was supposed to come from Nikki. He says, “The only way you can beat my crazy was by doing something crazy yourself,” as he acknowledges the healing resulting from what seemed the outlandish suggestion of the dance competition. He professes his love for her, and actually felt that love when they met at the dinner party. He apologizes for not allowing himself (not accepting that “sign”?) to acknowledge his feelings sooner, because he was “stuck” (jogging down the wrong path?). She says, without sentimental elaboration, “OK,” and they kiss.

The last scene has Pat Sr. getting his restaurant ready and is making another bet with Randy, who is now the one trying to recover his losses. The remotes are on the coffee table, so maybe Pat Sr. is fighting his OCD, as IMDb suggests. Danny is getting cooking lessons from Dolores, and Jake and Ronnie are playing cards, symbolizing the gambles we all take in life. Tiffany sits on Pat’s lap as they kiss. IMDb notes that they no longer are wearing their wedding rings, as they are now committed to each other. The film ends how it began with Pat doing a voice-over. He acknowledges how life can “break your heart,” and he states what the film is trying to say, that there is “craziness” not only in him, but in “everyone else.” So, empathy, not judgment, should rule. Sundays are now his favorite day again and he feels “lucky.” All you need is love, a famous person once sang.

The next film is Matewan.