Review of Joy (2015) by Dann M — 27 Mar 2016

It is always a pleasant surprise when you go into the movie theater expecting nothing, and come out with a joyful smile on your face. Joy was in every sense, an unexpectedly entertaining, almost outstanding, film. The story itself, seemed unappealing at first, but with the help of an extremely good cast, that might not work perfectly well together, but manages to pull through just fine, the movie brings to life the story of a female inventor, who created her own business empire.

Directed by David O. Russell and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joy starts very chaotically and develops slowly, but it is never boring... Though it stands very closely. Throughout the first half of the movie, nothing seems to relate very well, and the audience is almost lost in the plot, however, Jennifer Lawrence immerses into her character beautifully and is almost able to salvage the movie's confusing plot. It becomes emotional and charming at the same time, and once again Jennifer Lawrence made us forget about the girl in The Hunger Games or Silver Linings Playbook. Not to be ignored, are also the performances of Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, who did shine overall, but seemed to lack at times.

Although Joy was composed of a great cast and contained a very powerful screenplay such as many of David O. Russell's movies, the disarray that seemed to happen all throughout the first half was out of balance. Too much commotion and no story. The film manages to succeed however, thanks to the order that emerges throughout the second half, as well as the brilliant performances that are almost always delivered in O. Russell's films. Overall, it was better than expected, but still a little too far from greatness.