Joy

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.

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.

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 confess an approach with a negative a priori. Having not really enjoyed Happiness Therapy (David O. Russell, 2012), I feared a film gathering the same director with the same main actors. And I was definitely wrong! First, Jennifer Lawrence plays admirably, and is excellently assisted by Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen and Isabella Rossellini. This film is also a fabulous and inspirational advocacy to an escape attempt from a disadvantaged environment filled with zombies (the mother Terry in particular, and the father Rudy to a lesser extent) thanks to an obstinacy skilfully measured out and the wise help of her former husband Tony. This movie is invigorating!

I heard that this movie received negative reviews and feedback, so I was pleasantly surprised when I enJOYed the movie as much as I did.

There is no denying that the grand appeal to the movie was Jennifer Lawrence's compelling performance. The movie's story itself does not seem like it has much to offer. A poor, overworked woman selling a plastic mop does not sound that thrilling on paper. However, Lawrence takes it up a level to a powerful story about a woman never giving up and making her own opportunities happen against all odds. She takes you on an emotional journey from start to finish. Lawrence has the undeniable ability to make you ache along with her struggles. This can be uncomfortable for the helpless movie-goer, which leads me to wonder if this is the reason so many people had distaste for the film. No one wants to be told that hard work and strong will are not enough to succeed in this world, and, as a whole, "Joy" does just that.

That being said, "Joy" still left me feeling inspired. As a young, aspiration-filled woman myself, Lawrence's portrayal of Joy makes me feel like I can take on the world (which is dream that current American society consistently crushes on the daily). Lawrence's deadpan stares as she struts in and out of offices along with her turning point bathroom haircut, confirm that both Jennifer and Joy are a force to be reckoned with.

"Joy" also possesses a subtle humor, although many reviews seem to deny its existence. The purposefully over the top soap opera scenes obsessed over by bed-bound Terry (played by Virginia Madsen) are just enough to raise the otherwise dark tone.

Lawrence and David O. Russell take you on an emotional journey with "Joy." It may not be the uplifting movie you want this holiday season, but I would argue it is the movie you need.