Joy, 2015.
Directed by David O. Russell.
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Dascha Polanco, Elisabeth Rohm, and Virginia Madsen.
SYNOPSIS:
Joy is the story of the title character, who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.
For a director who has gone on record in multiple interviews claiming that he doesn’t care about telling a cohesive and straightforward story, but solely taking characters and placing them in all sorts of energized and dysfunctional dialogue exchanges, there sure are a whole lot of uninteresting and blank characters to be found in David O. Russell’s latest film, Joy, which is a loosely based true story on inventor and HSN juggernaut Joy Mangano.
What pops out as the biggest flaw is a severe case of identity crisis; one minute it’s the screwball comedy to be expected about a family consistently at each other’s throats that’s barely held together by Joy. Then it sort of shifts into what is undoubtedly the most entertaining stretch of the film; a sequence that reunites Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper on-screen together once again, as the head of QVC gives Joy the green light to go on television with almost no preparation in order to sell her Miracle Mop. What ensues is basically The Wolf of Wall Street by way of home shopping, as telephones start ringing from desk to desk with the absurd number of callers continuously skyrocketing, leaving one hell of a rush. Following that, the film stops being good and becomes an incredibly boring legal story about stolen blueprints and corporate double-crossing.
If there’s anything to be taken from Joy, it’s that the land of business is akin to a soap opera. This point is repeatedly hammered home with fantasy like dream sequences of Joy imagining herself in the soap operas that her mother is fixated on all day, every day, like a zombie. These scenes don’t really add anything substantial, and even quickly disappear, but the metaphor is blatantly there. Still, the point being driven home seems far too out in front and not conveyed very smoothly.
Nothing is really laid out in ways that make sense in Joy though; she is separated from her husband although allows him to live downstairs in the basement of her family home, but it’s never really explained why they broke up or why they still enjoy being around each other. Nevertheless, her father (played by Robert De Niro) comes home to share the basement with him, which is supposed to cause all sorts of hijinks considering that we are told they don’t get along, but again, there aren’t really any fireworks. So many of these characters just fade into the background and exist to push Joy forward when all hope is lost, or tell her everything is a bad idea at the beginning of her business venture.
There’s also the bitchy sister hell-bent on making sure Joy doesn’t see success, because apparently the movie needs a bitchy sister. We don’t know what caused this rift, it’s just there. The idea of Joy’s own family being toxic to the point where her inventions are the only thing that can save it, in terms of relationships and financially, is one that makes sense for great storytelling, but all of the characters here are forgettable. Robert De Niro has a couple funny lines within the first 20 minutes, and it’s all downhill from there for the majority of the supporting cast.
Still, as wildly disjointed and frustrating Joy is to watch, the experience is at times mildly inspirational. It’s hard not to become enthralled, wanting to root for someone chasing a dream that would break them free from the shackles of a mundane life, and Jennifer Lawrence captures that with a strong performance. It’s nowhere near her best role, but the determination in her eyes and strong-willed nature of the character is easy to get behind. Plus, her and Bradley Cooper continue to have great chemistry together.
The third act though just unravels any goodwill the film has done up to a certain point; there are time jumps that explain 45 minutes worth of movie in 5 minutes, all with narration from a dead character. Furthermore, why does Joy even need a narrator? It’s another decision that actually adds nothing to the story. There’s also a scene where all hope appears gone, which is punctuated by Joy cutting her hair and purchasing a pair of sunglasses. You can’t make this shit up, and I have no idea what any of the filmmakers were thinking.
Joy is a mess from start to finish; a movie that starts out reasonably entertaining, peaks in the middle with the actual selling of the mop, and then comes tumbling down like London Bridge. Somewhere in all of this is a good film; David O. Russell just seriously needs to start giving more attention to his narratives whether he wants to or not, because not every experience can coast off of frenetic energy and madcap charming characters. Joy certainly can’t anyway; there’s just no spark to any of this.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder – An aficionado of film, wrestling, and gaming. Follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook
Originally published December 29, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
