Joy

JOY

Director : David 'O Russell
Year : 2015
Genre : Drama
Rating : **

If like me you have dying to see the true story about the creation of the miracle mop bought to the silver screen in all of its bland, unengaging, tonally uneven glory then boy, are you in luck. Director David O Russell has taken it upon himself to tell the rags to riches saga of domestic goddess Joy Mangano with all of the pizazz and glamour of a codfish and while acted very well indeed by Academy Award winner and three time 'O Russell collaborator Jennifer Lawrence, 'Joy' is a very typical biographical drama that falls into the same narrative and pacing trappings of it's below average contemporaries.

To his credit, 'O Russell does actually manage to make his central lead a very sympathetic and  investable focus and while it may not be the best performance of her already substantial career, Lawrence  manages to bring a lot of depth and emotionality to her portrayal of the determined entrepreneur. There are also some nice flashback moments in which we see Joy during better times which really do help us to empathise with her battles both professionally and personally. However she is the only actor who has anything remotely interesting to say or do and at nearly two hours, 'Joy' quickly runs out of steam. An underused supporting cast of Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro. Isabella Rosselini and a very good turn by Virginia Madsen as Joy's soap-obsessed mother only help to highlight a distinct lack of interesting character and while 'O Russell's idiosyncratic writing style generates a few laughs every now and then, it can't be helped while watching 'Joy' to think was this story really worth telling?