At the very first 10 minutes watching the film, I wondered not less than 3 times “what is it fucking all about?”. A psycho patient’s life or something?! There’s nothing relating to “silver lightnings” or real “positive thinking” in the film. It’s about a man talking non-senses and having absolutely troubles with his crazy mind….
But it’s not. At all.
It’s about the struggle inside every human being. Everyone has his own problem, covered or uncovered. And when an uncovered issue goes peak, people got “crazy” just like Pat with his writhing love for his ex-wife who had an affair with his colleage right in their own house, or Tiffany with regretful sorrow for her passed-away husband who tried to improve their sex life, or Ronnie with his tight stress which cannot be shared… And after knowing the whole stories, we stop looking at them the way we used to. Are we living missing the most powerful thing in life, “sharing”? If there’s someone who truly listen to their stories and try to help or at least try to understand without “judging” (Tiffany: “I opened up to you, and you judged me”), silver lightnings would be there to shine over the clouds.
It’s about how love silently helps people get better. Sometimes painful. Sometimes lying. But we know we always want the best for our beloved ones. That’s how love works. To make life better.
It’s about how we can solve the conflicts in life. Simple. Show the listener what they want to listen to. If Pat’s Dad thinks that Tiffany is bad luck for the Eagles, Tiffany can easily switch his mood by pointing out she’s actually the damn luck for the football whenever she’s with Pat through the final scores of each games which she absolutely needs to patiently search for. That way, she makes Pat’s Dad unintentionally encourage her to be with Pat. As simple as that. Sometimes, we just try the wrong way when standing only in our shoes in a conversation, and forget a better easy way to solve things.
“The only way you can beat my craziness was by doing something crazier yourself. Thank you. I love you. I knew it the minute I met you. I’m sorry it took so long for me to catch up. I just got stuck.”
Sometimes, people just got stuck with their past or their own problems and really need someone to help, someone even crazier, someone has the same problems hence deeply understands them. Someone truly loves you to do so. It’s just time to wait for that person to show up.
“Tiffany: You let me lie to you for a week? Pat: I was trying to be romantic.” That is romantic itself ☺
— Vietnam 4:00 AM – 16 Feb 2014