Joy ★★★★
Though its title is named after its central protagonist, ‘Joy’ is a fairly inaccurate reflection of the film’s tone. For most of its runtime it follows Jennifer Lawrence’s character as she repeatedly gets shot down — by her parents, by business ‘partners’, by networks, by the law (figuratively, just in case you thought the picture above was an accurate reflection of the movie’s genre). Thankfully, actually watching it is far less of an ordeal. It’s actually very enjoyable.
The highs and lows are are all over the place as a yo-yo, but somehow director and writer David O. Russell (with co-writer Annie Mumolo) manages to make every high practically cheer-able, and every low as devastating as Joy herself feels. There’s only one point, close-ish to the end, that I thought was a little too much - not in terms of content but perhaps just through a form of emotional numbness by that point - and the film goes from hitting a high note in its climax to a bit of a lull once it focuses on patent law, but otherwise it’s very consistent. Around all those peaks and troughs lies a pervasive sense of helplessness, in which Joy has to tend to the needs of her children, job, parents and ex-husband — all before her own.
Lawrence plays the exhausted Joy brilliantly, but it’s her interplay with the supporting characters that drives the film. Robert De Niro is fantastic as the deprecating father, always trying to bring Joy back to earth (even going so far as to blame himself for giving Joy the impression she could be more than a washed up housewife), and Bradley Cooper is great as Neil Walker, a broadcaster that gives Joy the opportunity she needs to make it big. But it’s Diane Ladd as Mimi, Joy’s grandmother, that’s key to the whole shebang. It’s her constant unfading belief in her granddaughter, and her tearful, sympathetic eyes whenever something doesn’t go to plan.
I’ll admit that the only other David O. Russell film I’ve watched is American Hustle, and this is miles better than that effort. The story probably isn’t quite as good as the emotion it carries, and a lot of the dialogue is super-expositional. And the main focus of the film is a mop. But somehow I didn’t really mind; the sheer journey of the character (and her mop) and the support and disappointment you feel alongside her is enough to carry you through. Not perfect, but pretty damn enjoyable.
