5 ideas about a movie: Joy

Good morning/day/evening!

This week, I am trying to catch up on all the awards nominees and I think I am succeeding so far. So, let’s discuss David O.Russell’s and Jennifer Lawrence’s 3rd movie together – Joy. On a surface, it’s basically a story about selling fancy mops on QVC. However, that’s definitely not all that this movie is about. In addition, this film is one of the most light-hearted pictures of the awards’ season. The issues, explored in the film, were not as dreadful and depressing as in The Revenant, Spotlight or The Big Short . Nevertheless, the ideas, which were presented and analyzed, are as important and as serious as those darker ones.

IMDb summary: Joy is the story of the title character, who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.

1. David O. Russell both wrote and directed Joy. I have only seen a few of his films, both starring B. Cooper and  J. Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook (which I loved) and American Hustle (which surprised me in a positive way). My feelings for the film Joy are somewhere in the middle of the love to surprise specter. I thought that the movie was a bit unfocused and the directing was only okay, nothing too spectacular or interesting. Though I liked the usage of that bad old film and the dream/nightmare sequences – they were pretty interesting.
2. Joy’s story is based on true events and real people, however, a few things have been changed, so it’s a semi-fictional, semi-real story. The movie basically explored my biggest fear in life – exceeding in high school and going down hill from there. It also analyzed the family dynamics in one extremely dysfunctional family, which made my relatives looked so much more normal.
3. Jennifer Lawrence was really great in the film, as it was expected. I loved that her character was strong without being bitchy or nasty to others (only when needed – loved her facial expression in the final negotiation scene). She was also very patient, nice and tolerating – all the traits that I wished that I had. I also loved the fact that she was a self-made woman with infinite amounts of persistence. Lastly, I loved the short hair up-do and what it symbolized. Since The Hunger Games (Part 1/Part 2) franchise has come to an end, Lawrence now only has one franchise left – the X-men. However, Apocalypse is probably her last film in the series, as she does not want to play Mystique anymore (because of that blue costume and nakedness). So, my prediction is that Lawrence will stick with independent and smaller films going forward. However, she will be in Passengers alongside Chris Pratt, which started as a small film, but then it casted two of the biggest stars in the world right now, so a lot is expected from it.
4. I don’t know if I was meant to, but I really disliked the majority of the supporting characters. If these characters were intended to be terrible and just plain crazy, then the actors did a very nice job bringing them to life – I hated every single one of them. Robert De Niro played the awful father (I especially disliked him because of that line that Joy could not have been more than the housewife) while Virginia Madsen played the most uncaring and selfish mother in the world. Joy’s half-sister, played by Elisabeth Röhm, and Joy’s father’s girlfriends\ and Joy’s financier, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini, were also both atrocious characters.
5. The film had a few positive characters, like Bradley Cooper’s Neil (Cooper was also in Aloha and Burnt this year – both quite mediocre films, but definitely still watchable), Edgar Ramirez’s Tony (recently saw this actor in Point Break) and Dascha Polanco’s Jackie – Joy’s best friend. Sadly, these characters were a bit one-sided and were not developed at all. By far the most likable character of the film (excluding Joy) was her grandma, played by Diane Ladd, who also served as the narrator of the story. She did have a lot of development as well, but the viewer could, at least, care for her a little bit, because of her relationship with Joy.

All in all, if Joy wasn’t an awards contender, I wouldn’t have probably watched it, as it is not the type of movie I enjoy. However, it is important to broaden one’s views in life, so I am glad that I’ve checked it out. Lawrence was amazing once again in a story that everybody can relate to. The messy beginning of the film and the unlikeable supporting character were the only things that brought the movie down.

Rate: 3,75/5

Trailer: Joy trailer