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I think this is the playbook that the New York Jets are using now. For example, the silver lining of the butt fumble play is that...well, is there a silver lining? Probably not.

Kim Hollis: Silver Linings Playbook expanded to 367 theaters and had a five-day Thanksgiving weekend total of $6.2 million. What do you think of this result, and what do you think about its Oscar candidacy?

Matthew Huntley: I actually saw SLP today and while the audience response was positive, it wasn't exactly gushing. Granted, this is just my single screening, but I think it suggests the film will only be a modest box-office success (it might match its $21 million budget if it continues to expand and maintain its $10,000+ screen average) but not much of an awards-season player. In other words, it's good but not great. I admired its crazy characters, overlapping dialogue and rawness, but it's hardly groundbreaking and there are times when it lost some of its steam.

Felix Quinonez: I think this opening - and its Oscar hopes - are good but not great. It is definitely a strong weekend but nothing that really gets headlines or helps build buzz for the movie. As for the Oscar hopes, I see this one getting lost in the crowd.

Reagen Sulewski: Well, keeping its per screen average is pretty much a non-starter, as just about nothing does that, but having several weeks in a row of $5 million grosses adds up quickly, and that's entirely feasible. There's at least two, maybe three more jumps in screen counts to go. The point of these limited releases is to prove viability and build buzz, and there's no question that that's happened here. Fairly crucially, it's out there ahead of a bunch of all the other limited releases to claim that space with people of "that film you've never heard of but just have to see." If there's another two strong weeks of box office, we can start penciling it in on Oscar ballots already.

Max Braden: Silver Linings Playbook was the movie I made sure to see this weekend, and it lived up to expectations. It reminded me of the "alternative" Thanksgiving type movie - a little edgy, a little dysfunctional - like Home for the Holidays or The Family Stone. Family Stone won a Golden Globe and some Satellite Awards, and no doubt received a lot of audience approval, but didn't reach the Oscar level. I could see the same fate for Silver Linings Playbook. Cooper got to express some range (though it felt a little false at times), which will be good for his resume. I thought Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic and would happily vote for her nomination, but I would be hesitant on betting that she'll get one.

David Mumpower: The way that Best Picture nominations are determined now, I believe Silver Linings Playbook is solidly positioned for a nomination. In conversations I've had thus far, the people who love it are falling all over themselves with adoration. Since only 5% of voters need to select a title as their favorite, we could see another Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close situation, at a minimum. With regards to the box office, I will be curious to see how well it handles the post-Thanksgiving weekend, which is ordinarily a terrible weekend for box office. If it overcomes that, I believe it can maintain screens through early December. This is key to its overall box office take since being wide during the December 20th-January 2nd period artificially inflates the revenue of any title.

Kim Hollis: I think that we're most likely to see a nomination for Jennifer Lawrence but not much else for the film. I'm very excited to see it, though.

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