Directed by David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Fighter) and starring Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Winter's Bone, X-Men: First Class), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook, Cape Fear, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, Taxi Driver, The Godfather), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, American Sniper, The Hangover, Burnt) and Diane Ladd (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The World's Fastest Indian, Charlie's War, 28 Days).
Drama; 123 mins, 12+, in EN
Director David O. Russell has brought together the cast from the highly-successful Silver Linings Playbook which won Oscar (Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress) and received another 7 Oscar nominations for another, for this film for which Jennifer Lawrence has already won Best Actress at the recent Golden Globe awards.
Joy is both a tribute to all businesswomen who succeed after perseverance and dogged determination, and the name of the title character played by Jennifer Lawrence who shows why her talents are so sought-after nowadays.
Joy tells the story of Joy Mangano who struggles to raise her family, and her extended dysfunctional family, through the eyes of her grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd). She holds down a job at an airline but her father Rudy (Robert De Niro) still helps with mortgage repayments. He is divorced and has moved back into the house as he has recently split from another girlfriend; and is now sharing the basement with Joy's divorced husband and father of her two children, a struggling singer. She does the books for his auto garage company as a way to repay his kindness. Her grandmother and mother, with whom her father has a fractious relationship, also live in the same house, with her mother apparently watching tv all day long. Joy appears to the be only one capable of anything in the household.
In this quirky drama, she comes to the realisation that she needs to do something different to break free of the routine which is leading her nowhere in life. She conceives the idea of an invention but, because she could not go to college due to her parents' marriage break-up, does not have the business understanding of how to proceed. But with her dogged determination, she attracts some investment through a family connection, receives some advice and gets some products made. Then the real task starts, that of sales.
Along her path she comes across Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) at the recently-launched QVC television channel and has to convince him to carry her invention. The film has more pitfalls than triumphs, bringing the audience on a rollercoaster of an emotional ride as the girl evolves into a matriarch in her own right. It has all the ingredients of a thriller - with betrayal, treachery, loyalty, love and alliances amongst others all included - but introduced in an off-beat fashion which set the tone for the unfolding drama over the two hours.
The great performances and a riveting storyline are the main ingredients for a must-watch film for a wide cinema-going audience.
