'Joy' - Movie Review

JoyU ComedydramaDirector David O RussellCast Jennifer Lawrence Bradley Cooper Robert De NiroRatingThe Joy Mangano Jennifer Lawrence story is typical of the American dream She a divorced mother of two who risks her lifes savings to produce and market her invention the Miracle Mop overcomes the toughest hurdles and incessant debilitating meddling from her dysfunctional family that includes her father Rudy Robert De Niro his many wivesgirlfriends and her envious stepsister en route to becoming the super successful inventorbusinesswoman who became a household name all across AmericaWhile that truetolife story is uplifting and an ideal to liveup to the movie of it doesnt work entirely to that effect And that probably would be because the entire achievement is dependent on an innocuous looking household item that most of us would discount as something unworthy of praiseNarrated in a fantastical tone by her grandmother Mimi Diane Ladd Joy begins as a fable about a little girl who liked to make things She then transforms into a troubled young woman who is unsure of herself falls in love with a Tom Jones wannabe Joey Edgar Ramirez has two kids divorces her layabout husband and then settles into a confused friendship with him whilst living in a joint family setup that includes her entire dysfunctional family entourage Amidst all this chaos comes her invention that she hits upon while on a 55foot yacht owned by her dads newest fling Trudy Isabella Rossellini who happens to have the moolah to fund her enterprise But for that she needs to convince someone to buy it first In steps QVCs homeshopping network head Bradley Cooper who gives her a chance And its up to Joy to live up to her name in front of a fixated home shopping audience Its not easy thoughThe narration starts off as strong and then floats around into diverse sub plots before getting back on track Joys family life keeps interrupting her professional one And thats the format Russell uses to bring home the point of her struggle that is both within and without Joy has to deal with her mother Virginia Madsen who lies in her bed all day watching soap operas and eventually appears to have a thing going with the plumber an interfering father and a conniving jealous stepsister and business associates who setout to cheat her How Joy overcomes all these hurdles and comes out smelling roses is what the film is aboutIts not exactly Erin Brockovich but it gets the job done in entertaining fashion Russell employs the soap opera technique to exploit the foibles of family life while taking the fantasy route to shore up the resourcefulness of a working class mom defying all odds to seize her moment in the sun Theres no heavyduty moment The narrative despite being choppy has a smooth fluidity that helps keep you interested Smooth transitions excellent scenetoscene connect and constantly evolving storyline help that advancement further Sendups of Emmywinning soap icons like Susan Lucci Laura Wright and Maurice Benard add weight to the craft All the stars do their bit here to keep the glow on the boil but its really Jennifer Lawrence who shoulders the entire weight of the film with both star power and acting shops Her performance here though not extraordinary has enough poise charm and empathetic moments to make it memorable Unfortunately Russells craft here is not as luminous as it was in Silver Linings Playbook But even though its a hustle at best it manages to spread out enough charm to keep you engaged