Joy - Alles außer gewöhnlich

David O. Russell has made some lovely films with Jennifer Lawrence, such as "Silver Linings Playbook" and "American Hustle". And here, with Lawrence once again, he's given her an excellent role (that resulted in an Oscar nomination) but that's really about all. Unlike the other films, the rest of the characters are so unlikable and nasty that watching the film is akin to pouring salt into your eyes.....it's just not particularly nice nor pleasant. Now the characters in these other films were not exactly nice folks...but you felt compelled to watch them. Not as much here...mostly because these other characters tend to dominate the story instead of accentuating it in "Joy".

Joy is a character originally envisioned as a biography of real-life Joy Mangano--a woman who invented some labor-saving household items which have made her rich. But as the script was written, the story began to diverge more and more and more from Mangano's life...to the point where it's mostly fiction.

In this story, Joy (Lawrence) is the glue that tries to hold her very dysfunctional and chaotic life together. And, it's tough considering that Joy's family has little in the way of boundaries and Joy is working her butt off. For example, her parents divorced long ago...yet the pair moved in with Joy....and bring chaos to her life as they fight AND the parents both bring their boyfriends/girlfriends into the home! The bottom line is that practically everyone in the family makes great demands on Joy and they don't seem to care that this is destroying her. And, frustratingly, Joy is practically incapable of telling any of these jerks no! I think too much of the film focuses on this chaos, as I found myself tense and frustrated watching her life. I just wanted these folks to go away!

Eventually, like the real Joy, this Joy manages to take her great ideas and market them...and make money from them. Too bad she didn't use this money and power to get restraining orders to keep everyone from her family out of her life. And, too bad it took so long and we needed to cringe constantly at the family until this breakthrough EVENTUALLY occurred. But even then, the family seems to do their best to make Joy's idea fall flat.

The bottom line is that it can be tough to sell a story where you don't like anyone. It can work...but it's an uphill battle...and here it just didn't work well for me. And, I can see why this Russell film didn't do as well in theaters as his other collaborations with Lawrence....making less in the States than it cost to make. As it is, it's watchable but a bit of a disappointment. Slow and not at all a joy to watch! It at least earns a 5 because there are some nice performances. The film MIGHT have worked better had the first half of the movie been reduced significantly and the final portion accentuated further.

Some people have really gotten riled up about this film. I love to watch Jennifer Lawrence, so I give it the benefit of the doubt from the beginning. This, of course, is the story of a smart woman who has done only things for the family, only to be used and abused by them. She has finally had enough and decides to move on an idea for a new kind of mop that will revolutionize housecleaning. The problem is getting connected with someone who will notice what she has done. She goes through all kinds of trials and pain and finally hits it big on QVC. However, there are people out there who know how to manipulate things to make life miserable for a neophyte. The problem with this movie is that nearly everyone is a jerk, only in things for themselves. Also, there is a kind of "deus ex machina" ending that makes things all hunky dory. I still haven't figured quite how she lands on her feet at the end and what the threat was. Still, it moves along pretty well and keeps one's interest. I did feel, however, that she should have shed the whole bunch of people who tried to stop her along the way.

I should not have been surprised. Jennifer Lawrence is an AMAZING actor, one of the finest we have today. The story is not flashy, but the acting is superb. If you can enjoy movies without a lot of CGI and things blowing up, give this a try.

I was not drawn to Joy when it was first released because it just looked like a made for TV movie. I was surprised when Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance and still had no real desire to see Joy. Joy popped up on my new releases list on Apple TV today so I thought I would just watch the first 10 minutes to get an idea whether it would be watching or not. After 10 minutes I knew this was worth watching so my husband and I watched it and to both of our surprise we really liked it. Jennifer Lawrence was outstanding in her role as Joy. I've always thought Lawrence was an amazing actress since I saw her in Winter's Bone. She is the real deal. She is destined for more success with each film she is in. DeNiro is amazing as always. It is a wonderful story that should have received better reviews. I can understand why it wasn't a box office hit but it is definitely worth watching.

This is a supposedly "inspirational" kind-of movie based on the life of Joy Mangano a business woman and inventor of home products.

As I'm reading this is far from the actual life of Mangano (who, unlike the Joy in the movie, she went to University and has a degree in business administration). It is more like a blend of the stories of other housewives turned to businesswomen (if you can believe that) and contains lots of fictional elements for dramatic purposes.

Nevertheless the plot is weak. So is the script. There isn't any actual moral here (like "Try and you will succeed"), and the narration of her grandmother dilutes any of that "moral" with too much "it is your destiny" crap.

Soooo, the movie is an empty shell (or should I say Sell, pun intended) but is it fun to watch? No. Not really.

The characters (including Robert De Niro's who plays her father, Elisabeth Röhm's who plays her half-sister, Virginia Madsen's who plays her mother and Isabella Rossellini's who plays her father's girlfriend and serves as the initial investor) are heavily unsympathetic.

The direction is blunt, the pace uneven (I wont spoil you but the resolution of all problems comes in just a few seconds near the end), the situations unbelievable (like going to the...bathroom and unveil a conspiracy by pure luck) etc.

Overall: A blunt movie with weak script and plot. The unsympathetic characters also make this unbearable. Not fun to watch and no true moral in this fictitious sequence of events.