'Silver Linings Playbook' Wins Audience Award At Hamptons International Film Festival

David O’Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” racked up another award on Sunday. The dark comedy took home the audience award at the 20^th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival. The honor comes a month after the film received the Blackberry Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The critically lauded film is quickly emerging as an Oscar front-runner.

“Silver Linings,” based on Matthew Quicks' novel of the same name, stars Bradley Cooper as a former high school teacher who is battling bipolar disorder. After completing a four-year mental health treatment program, he moves in with his parents (Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver) and gradually begins to piece his life back together. His recovery process becomes somewhat complicated when he forms a relationship with a depressed young widow (Jennifer Lawrence).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the critically acclaimed film is set to receive three Hollywood Film Awards on Oct. 22. Both Cooper and DeNiro will take home acting awards for the film while Russell will be honored with the Hollywood Director Award.

Several outlets, such as Moviefone and Vulture, have noted that the film may be on its way to earning Oscar gold.

“Silver Linings” was one of the best-reviewed films featured in the Toronto Film Festival. Several top critics have praised the film’s script as well as its cast.

Justin Chang of Variety has compared the film’s dialog to a David Mamet play and is in awe of the thoughtful collaboration between Russell and the film’s lead actors.

"In a script that never lapses into mundane or uninteresting language," Chang writes, "the scenes between Pat [Cooper] and Tiffany [Lawrence] are sculpted with an almost David Mamet-like sharpness, amplified onscreen by the intimacy and focus of Russell's direction and the superbly harmonized lead performances."

Kevin Jagernauth of Indie Wire has praised Cooper and Lawrence for their daring and comical performances.

"Cooper brings enormous heart to a role that easily might have veered toward the abrasive, and Lawrence shows off natural comic chops that we haven't seen much from her," says Jagernauth. "There's self-exposure and risk in both these actors' work here, which makes for rewarding comedy.

So will awards and critical raves translate into Oscar gold? Find out on Jan. 10, when the Academy Award nominees are announced and tune into the ceremony on Feb. 22.

“Silver Linings Playbook” is scheduled to open the 2012 Mumbai Film Festival on Oct. 18 and is set to hit theaters on Nov. 22.