"Joy"

Title: Joy
Director: David O. Russell
Writer: David O. Russell, Annie Mumolo
Category: Comedy, Drama
Duration: 124 min.
Rate: 

Since the nomination for the Golden Globes are out, it seems the right time to start reviewing the movies that this year will possibly be nominated at the Academy Awards.

Written and directed by David O. Russell, the first film of this Award season is Joy. 

Loosely based on the life of the American inventor, businesswoman and entrepreneur Joy Mangano and the invention of the self-wringing miracle mop that made her famous, Joy can be considered as a tale about how difficult it actually was, and still is, for women to be taken seriously, achieve their goals and be thriving in a men's world. In the movie, Joy grew up with the idea that with her hands and her creativity she could do everything. Motivated by her grandmother - who is the voice that tells Joy's story - to be better, she believes that everything is possible if you only try your hardest. However, life is not always fair and Joy has to deal with her dysfunctional family: her mother lives her life on a bed watching telenovelas, because they show brave women who are fully in charge of their life and who will never be left behind by their husbands. Her father, after the divorce, moves from one relationship to the other and every time, as soon as the relationship ends, he is sent back home to his daughter. Joy's life is a whirlwind of unsuccessful moments, and not even her creativity helps her, until she invents her self-wringing miracle mop. From that point, pushed by her grandmother, she will do everything in her power to make her revolutionary invention a reality, to get it patented and sell it. However, everything has a cost and nothing is easy. Joy's only strength is her perseverance and strong self-motivation to make her life better and be able to provide for her children and her family. In Joy David O. Russell's signature is evident once again from the pace of the movie. The film moves from one scene to the other quickly, almost swiping the audience off their feet while following Joy's story. The storyline is linear, but every once in a while, to give the background of the main characters, O. Russell uses flashbacks to show their past, mixing it with the present to give a small breather to the audience and make them understand what drives the characters to act in a certain way. The cast, mostly made by actors who worked several times with the director in the past, worked perfectly together. Jennifer Lawrence's lead is strong, even though her performance is not one of her strongest so far. She understood Joy's drive and her deepest fears and she portrayed them effortlessly. Her interpretation of Joy made it possible for the audience to understand her and her desire to become someone, to be taken seriously in a world in which men are in charge and women cannot possibly compete with them. She completely immerses herself in her character, portraying her flaws and her perseverance. Through her actions the audience understand that Joy's sole purpose is to make her children's and her family's life better. She wants to fix everything and show that she is not just a dreamer or an underachieving woman who is just looking for something to distract herself from her boring life. Seeing her working with Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro created some sort of familiarity that made the story more believable. Their performances complimented her's and they were able to create a well oiled machine that gave the right tempo to the film. The soundtrack, filled with well known old greatest hits, helped the movie's flow and in some scenes it also brought humor to dramatic or pivotal scenes. All in all, Joy is a well made movie that without pretenses discusses a hot topic in our contemporary world without taking itself too seriously while at the same time menage not to discuss about it too lightly.

Till next time,
Fred.

Here's the trailer: