Joy

Sometimes I find it really hard to hate on David O. Russell as he did somehow manage to find a way to just put the first initial of his middle name out in public and didn’t come off as a douchebag while doing so. Everyone else who preceded him in trying to do something similar has failed and now clearly has the label of scrub attached to their name, just look at P. Diddy or L.L. Cool J. But when you look at his IMDB page and see the movies he’s made and the awards he’s received for them, you can’t help but come to the realization that he is easily one of Hollywood’s most overrated directors.

Nothing spectacular ever happens in his films and consequently you always leave the theater feeling as though the only reason he made the film was so he could simply work with an actor he had some weird crush on. Why else would he put a young Marky Mark in a drama or an old George Clooney in the army? But again, I can’t really fault him for that because if Hollywood ever makes the mistake and allows me to direct movies, I’m casting Nicole Kidman and Mila Kunis in my X-rated version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas! It’s guaranteed to be the highest grossing film of all time! (Btw I changed this joke to something less offensive because I’m getting soft in my old age)

Well Joy turned out to be more of the same for Russell as he takes you into the once promising life of the intelligent and kind hearted Joy, played wonderfully by the omnipresent Jennifer Lawrence. All her life Joy was told that she was destined to do great things as her grandmother encouraged her to act on her innovative ideas and inventions. But due to the fact that her family was a bonafide mess, she had to pass on going off to college so she could stick around and help them out in any way she could.

But one day after a predictable accident takes place on her father’s new girlfriend’s boat, Joy wakes up and has an epiphany. She is no longer going to be satisfied with a life that has led her to bear the burdens of her unrealistic ex husband (who lives in her basement btw), her sometimes bullish father, her resentful half-sister, and her weird and needy mother; most of whom live in her broken down home.

She decides that she is going to put everything she has into this new invention of hers and for the next 90 minutes of the movie, you see the journey she takes to try and become a successful business woman.

Now this movie is totally dependent upon the performance of Lawrence as she is the sole focus of this inspirational story. You can’t help but root for her as this movie is an appeal to everyone out there to not simply lay down and become satisfied with the hand that life has dealt you, but rather to continue to pursue your dreams in spite of the obstacles that lie ahead. And lucky for Russell, Lawrence and her affable personality are the perfect fit for this movie. At some level every normal human being settles in life and this movie evokes all of the emotions that are tied to that, especially the desperation and vulnerability that comes when you try and improve your situation.

But the problem isn’t with Lawrence trying to improve her life, it’s with the fairytale like circumstances that arise once she does. I won’t ruin the movie for you but just know that all of the weird scenes you see in the trailer, like the "Do you pick up the gun?" or the "Don’t ever speak on behalf of me when it comes to my business again: lines fall completely flat in this movie. The scenarios that surround them are completely unrealistic and it’s obviously just manufactured drama on the behalf of Russell.

This movie wasn’t awful, as Robert Deniro does provide all of the film’s funny moments; and the story is still one that can provide hope for someone who has fallen short of their goals. But in the end, this was just another excuse for Russell to see Lawrence’s amazing body walk around set for two months. I suggest you wait and watch this movie on Netflix as it gets a rating of WEAK!