Joy (2015, PG-13)

I’m not sure if I’ve been less impressed with David O. Russell’s most recent work or if, for me, his films follow a law of diminishing returns.  Because, in my view, The Fighter > Silver Linings Playbook > American Hustle > Joy.  Now, the margin on those first three are fairly close, but overall, I thought Joy was just all right.

Joy epitomizes “life of quiet desperation,” or at least, she would if it weren’t for the “quiet” part.  She’s been languishing in a dead-end job while raising two children, taking care of her delicate mother, putting up with her directionless ex-husband, and wrangling her obstinate father.  However, the creative spark within her hasn’t died, and Joy sets out to change her circumstances by making and marketing a revolutionary new mop of her own invention, attacking every hurdle she meets along the way.

I wouldn’t say it’s a bad movie, not at all.  Certain aspects of it are pretty great – I really like seeing Joy’s initial conception of the Miracle Mop and her refusal to accept defeat in the face of her many obstacles (including members of her family constantly undermining her business decisions or telling her she can’t do it – gems, the lot of them.)  The main relationships between Joy and the characters who are actually supportive of her – chiefly, her grandmother Mimi, her best friend Jackie, and her ex-husband Tony – are really enjoyable to watch, and the depiction of the early days of home shopping programs is fun.

That said, I definitely get bogged down by the unpleasantness of most of the other characters in Joy’s life.  Their relentless negativity bothers me, especially since Joy is the only one of them trying to accomplish something; they’re not doing anything, so they don’t have much room to talk.  I get that a character needs to struggle before she can succeed, but by the umpteenth scene of Joy’s dad, mom, or sister blaming her for all their problems without suggesting any solutions of their own, I was awfully fed up.  Additionally, the script feels a bit too on-the-nose sometimes – too much telling, not enough showing.

Jennifer Lawrence does well as the “down but not out” Joy, carrying the film with steely grit.  I have to say though, that to me, she feels too young for the role.  I’m also not sure I’d necessarily call the performance one of the top five for leading actresses this year; I think Lawrence may be on her way to the Streep treatment of being a regular nominee most years that she’s in even a vaguely Oscar-ish movie.  (Don’t get me wrong – she’s reliably good, but I probably would’ve given her nomination slot to Charlize Theron for Mad Max:  Fury Road.)  The film also features Russell faves Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, along with Isabella Rossellini, Virginia Madsen, Dascha Polanco (Daya from Orange is the New Black) as Jackie, and Jimmy Jean-Louis (the Haitian from Heroes.)  I’m not familiar with Édgar Ramírez, who plays Tony, but I like him a lot here.

Warnings

Swearing and some drinking.