The main character, Pat, sits in his room, speaking to himself, imagining
how his conversation with his wife would go. He states he took family Sundays for granted,
where the mother would cook and the father would watch sports on TV. He further states
that he will get all that back. The next scene shows his recovery in a
hospital. By the looks of it, it seems like he was a drug addict, and his journey with
pills and group therapy comes to an end, when he finally decides to get better and go home.
Finally, he signs the discharge papers and his mother picks him and his friend up,
who informally greets her, calling her Mrs. S.
Pat’s friend, Danny has been in the psychiatric institution because of
assault and use of crystal meth, along with his history of anxiety disorder.
Mrs. S gets a call from the hospital and she finds out that Danny did not get allowed to leave the
hospital. After a sight argument in the car, Danny gets dropped back and Pat gets taken home.
When Pat gets home with his mother, his father puts a hand on his shoulder and hugs him.
The father is a little hurt at the fact that he did not know of Pat’s discharge,
and makes unsure remarks about the court’s and the doctor’s permission,
but Pat reassures him that he is fine now. Pat’s father ,,continues to ask him what he will
do with his life. Pat says he will get in shape for his ex-wife, Nikki. The father tries to tell
Pat that Nikki sold her house and moved on. But Pat gets weirdly angry at that and starts
aggressively telling his father, that he doesn't know of his love with his ex-wife.
He chants this word, ‘Excelsior’ and says it means that, he will take all the negative
energy his father gives him and turn into a drive to find his silver lining.
Pat starts reading novels and different types of books that Nikki taught in schools. But one night,
at 4 am, he throws a novel outside his window, breaking the glass and rushes to his parents,
waking them up and ranting about how bad the ending of the book was.
His parents, exasperated, tell him to apologize, but he does not and walks out.
The next morning, Pat’s mother takes him to therapy, which he goes to reluctantly. At the
therapy centre, he gets angry at the song being played and gets rude with the receptionist.
He starts throwing things around looking for the speakers, after which he apologizes.
Inside the doctors room, it turns out Pat had a personal grudge with that song,
something the doctor knew and used to assess if it would have the same effect on Pat as before.
He refuses to take medication, saying it makes him groggy, and confidently states that he is
ready to take responsibility for himself, if his ex wife will take responsibility for hers.
He continues to remember what his wife did to him, she basically cheated on
him for another guy. The doctor tells him to remember something he did before that,
and Pat guiltily recalls framing his ex and the history teacher for embezzling money.
It seems like he is self aware of the problems that he has been facing mentally.
He knows he has bipolar disorder along with delusions and other stressors that make him
react violently around his relationships. Back at home, pat argues with his mom over not
wanting to take drugs. That is when Pat’s dad calls him over to watch the game with him. He
thinks pat is a lucky man and as he is speaking that belief, his favorite team scores a point,
causing him to cheer loud. The atmosphere of their house seems
to be extremely chaotic though, with all the family members speaking over each other.
Frustrated, Pat runs put and jogs all the way to the school Nikki and him
used to teach at. He runs into Nancy, a colleague who tries to run from him.
He asks her if Nikki still teaches here, but Nancy does all he can to avoid having a conversation
with Pat. She compliments his physique, to which he gets flattered quite a bit and hugs her,
calling the compliment a silver lining. Next up, Pat goes to see his old friend,
Ronnie, who greets him warmly and apologizes for not visiting him at the hospital. He then
says his wife has invited him to dinner and they set the day for next Sunday.
He goes home and tells his parents what happened, but his father thinks Nikki will
be with another man and tries to snatch the phone from Pat’s hands. They get into
a fight and Pat cries a little, telling his dad not to speak to him this way.
At that moment, the police rings the doorbell and lets Pat know of the restraining order.
He tells Pat to be careful. The next day at therapy, the doc
tries to convince him to take his medication, but Pat seems to have delusions of his own.
He says Nikki is waiting for him to get back in shape, after which he thinks she
will get back together with him. On Sunday, Pat arrives at his friend’s
house wearing the jersey, he thinks he made a mistake and turns back to go change,
but his friend rushes him inside, telling him hes the guest of honor.
After a while of talking, Pat’s friend opens up about the pressure he feels because of his home,
the baby and his job. He claims it feels too suffocating sometimes.
Just then, Veronica’s sister Tiffany walks in for dinner. Pat acts insensitively,
asking about the death of her husband and blurting out his hopes regarding Nikki,
further asking about her job. She tells him she just got fired actually, and then they go
on a house tour with the mood being gloomy. They sit to have dinner, where Tiffany and Pat
seem to hit off because of their mutual experience with medications, but after
chatting a bit Tiffany gets up and claims she is tired and asks Pat to walk her home.
They walk together in the dead of night, and Tiffany invites him to the back of
the house where she lives separate to that of her parents. He tells her that he is married,
but she retorts saying so is she, but he rudely reminds her that her husband is dead.
Surprisingly, she hugs him and starts crying, after which she slaps him hard
and walks away. The mixed signals confuses the already unstable Pat who rushes home.
Pat wakes his parents up after 3 am and goes through the entire house,
searching for his wedding tapes. He screams and screams, frustrated.
Running around the house, he breaks off wallpaper while his mother runs after him, telling him he
will make the whole neighborhood wake up. It gets worse when he starts hallucinating
amidst his panic attack, remembering how Nikki cheated on him. In his fury,
he throws his mother on the floor. His father sees it and pins him down on the bed,
hitting him and being hit by him. By now, everyone in the neighborhood
has woken up, and the police arrives. Pat’s parents still back him up though,
calling it a mere medication problem. The police officer notifies him that he will
have to make a report about his outbursts. Pat tells him not to do it over and over
again because he doesn't want Nikki to think hes doing bad, but the police leaves.
The next day, while Pat is on a run around the neighborhoods, he runs into Tiffany who follows
him around. Pat gets growingly aggressive and tells her to stop following him. He makes a
run for it in an attempt to lose her. She catches up to him to his dismay, and he
calls her a sl*t. It seems as if she wont talk to him, but she gets up in his face, telling him
that she has accepted every part of herself but he cant do the same. After that she leaves.
At therapy, the doctor tells Pat to develop a strategy for when he feels these bursts of anger,
in order to get him to a peaceful state. He reminds him of the word Excelsior. The doc
suggests that Pat make friends with Tiffany so that Nikki can think of him as a good person.
The next day, Pat goes for a run again where he meets Tiffany out too. She clarifies that
she only wants to be friends with him, and they agree to dinner at a local diner.
At 7:30 pm, he picks her up and greets her Happy Halloween. She is dressed in a
curvy black shirt with embroidery along the sleeves. At the diner, he orders a
Raisin Bran and she orders simple tea. He clarifies that he ordered cereal so she
doesn't think of this as a date. He talks about how he wants to explain to Nikki that
he is not out of control. Tiffany offers to deliver the letter Pat has been wanting to
write to Nikki. It would be breaking the law since Nikki has a restraining order on him.
She tells Pat how she lost her job at work; by committing pleasure acts with everyone at the
office. She justifies it saying she was very sad when her husband, Tommy passed away.
Pat asks her questions which would be considered inappropriate to the masses, but Tiffany says
she doesn't mind them, and continues telling him of her acts. He relates to her too.
They start talking about the letter that Pat wants to write Nikki,
and Tiffany tells him that Veronica must've told Nikki that he is like her.
This makes Pat scoff, stating that he is nothing like her, judging her for what she told him.
Tiffany gets offended by his entire reaction and tells him to forget she offered help to
him. After breaking off plates and cussing at him at the diner, she storms away.
He follows her but she screams at him in the middle of the road,
screaming that he is harassing her, making the kids out to trick and treat gather around.
When the policeman arrives and tries to get Pat jailed for his outbursts,
Tiffany saves him. Later she tells him she will get his letter to Nikki.
Next morning, he goes to Tiffany’s house to find another guy at her door. Pat drives
him away after complimenting her behind her back, what he doesn't know is that
Tiffany is listening behind the door. He leaves but she runs to meet him. Tiffany
says she doesn't wanna give Nikki the letter because there's nothing in it for her.
When asked what she wants, Tiffany says there is a dance competition where she
needs a partner, but Pat refuses. Back at home, Pat sees his friend from
the hospital, Danny sitting and watching the game with his dad. They meet enthusiastically. Ronnie,
who is there to enjoy the game as well hands Pat an iPod full of songs.
Just then, Pat’s successful brother walks down the stairs. He compares
his great life to that of his brother, but much to everyone's surprise, Pat says he has nothing
but love for his brother and hugs him. The police burst in at that moment to take
Danny away. Pat’s dad tries to stop that but the police doesn't listen,
taking the peaceful boy back to Baltimore. Later, Pat goes to see Tiffany who thinks she
can give his leer to Nikki tonight, but he needs to dance with her for that.
They do so, and have a heart to heart conversation about emotions. After that, they
meet everyday and she teaches him to waltz. there's a symbol during one of these scenes,
where Pat returns home after dancing and is so tired that he throws aside the books he
was reading for Nikki and sleeps. This means he is unconsciously getting over her.
One day while they are practicing dance, Danny barges in, telling Pat
that his parents told him he would be here. He witnesses their dance and explains how they
can do it better. When pat sees his friend dance with a smiling Tiffany, he gets a little jealous,
but overall they have a good time. The next day, Pat gets approached by his father,
who tells him they need to have some bonding time if his good luck is to work for the games.
Father then continues to talk his heart out to Pat, telling him he wants to spend time off,
because they didn’t when Pat was younger. Pat’s dad, who bets on these games is betting
his entire savings on the Giants, because he believes in Pat and thinks he’ll make them win.
He tells his family about the dance competition he is doing,
and later on asks Tiffany if he can spend half a Sunday with her and half with his dad.
Tiffany tells him that Nikki replied to his letter, and he cant seem to focus on the dance
till she lets him read it- so she does. He reads the letter aloud. In it,
she expresses that shes grateful hes doing so well, but says she needs to see his sincerity
in order for her to get back with him, otherwise it would be better off if they parted ways.
Teary eyed, Pat leaves the dance studio. The next day, Pat goes to the game for his
dad. There, he meets Dr. Patel, the therapist and hugs him.
At the game, Pat has a great time with his friends and brother, dancing long with everyone. However,
It all gets ruined when a bunch of racist Americans enter the stadium premises and
act in a racist manner towards Indians. Pat gets into a fistfight when he sees his
brother get beat up, and after they come home, it appears that the Eagles have lost the game, and
Pat’s dad has lost all his money that he bet. While he is calling Pat a loser and making
a ruckus, Tiffany barges in. There, she explains to the father
that being with her makes Pat have good luck with the game. After hearing her explanations,
he gets increasingly interested and starts to like her for her common sense.
Randy, Pat’s dad’s friend who just won the bet comes forwards falsely claiming,
that he does not enjoy winning all that money, but in her aggressiveness,
Tiffany helps Pat’s dad makes a crazy bet on their dance competition and the next football game.
Pat pulls out in his frustration, quitting and standing outside on his porch. The people
inside the house decide to lie to Pat about Nikki being there at the competition.
The next days, Pat shows up at rehearsals as usual as he and Tiffany prepare.
On the special day, they dress up, ready to go. She seems to be swaying because of
the lie but Pat tells her to stay focused. At the competition, they stare at the talented
dancers and feel a lack of confidence. While Pat is signing them up, Tiffany sees Veronica
and surprisingly, Nikki with them. Tiffany seems to hate shes here and glares at her sister.
Tiffany starts drinking hard vodka right before the dance, not a good decision on her part.
Pat goes around the entire party, finally finds her drinking vodka.
He scolds her and then takes her with him to the dance, while the Eagles win the football
game and the men rush up to see the dance, which their bet is dependant on now.
Their names are called and they walk up to the middle of the dance floor. As they
begin to dance, everyone stares in awe at their fluid movements and dance chemistry,
which can be felt through their eye contact. It is obvious by their dance that they are
having a really good time, changing their dance and their songs,
At long last, they finally do their big move, which they mess up a bit
causing it to be embarrassing, but nevertheless it is still good.
The judge’s score the dance, and it is a solid 5, which is not a good score but its one that they
had to get to win the bet. Everyone hugs each other in happiness, and as Tiffany hugs Pat,
he pulls away and instead walks to Nikki. Watching them meet, Tiffany walks away from
the place, kicking her heels off. But what she does not witness is Pat moving away from
Nikki and leaving her to find Tiffany. Pat’s dad gives him advice about love,
and Pat rushes out to catch up to Tiffany. He grabs Tiffany’s hands and asks her to
read a letter he wrote to her. Pat confesses his love for Tiffany
in a beautiful heartfelt manner and they kiss in the middle of the decorated streets.
The next scene is one at Pat’s house where everyone is having a good time, and Tiffany
walks up to him and they kiss happily. It seems he has finally found his silver lining.