Review of Joy (2015) by Spangle — 16 Jan 2016

Joy has a lot going for it that ultimately makes me like it more than not, but it is undeniable that this is a deeply flawed film. For starters, Jennifer Lawrence and the entire cast is phenomenal. Many claim Lawrence did not deserve her Academy Award nomination, but my God did she ever.

She was stupendous. Not my favorite performance of the year, but certainly up there. Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro were also quite good. Additionally, the pacing was fine, the film was always captivating, and the story had some very good comedic moments that had the whole theater in stitches.

However, that is about where it ends. Yes, Lawrence's acting is good enough to outweigh everything else, namely the story. The story and the way it was written is deeply flawed. Based on a real woman, I have to assume the real story could not have been that bad that they had to Hollywoodize everything.

Not only does Joy's story follow the traditional character arc and story structure a little too well, it just feels so fake. Even more, much of it designed to remind you of how strong a woman Joy is. I get that she is strong and independent, but I do not need a reminder every five seconds.

I have no issue with strong women, but a film about one does not need to keep reminding you of such. Instead, it should demonstrate it. However, this is a sin the film commits quite often, as it often tells rather than shows, namely in the form of its narration.

Entirely useless, the narration here is a major cop-out and is used solely to have forced exposition and connect scenes together. The script finds ways to get worse, however, as all of the characters are one-dimensional.

Real humans do not act this way, let alone ones allegedly based on real ones. In particular, Joy's half-sister seemed to cruel and mean, yet there has to be more to her tale than the film let on. Ultimately, Joy is compelling, funny, and incredibly well-acted by Jennifer Lawrence, but its story handicaps it throughout.