January
03
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Joy (2015)
There is so much to like and so much to dislike in Joy (2015). It offers intriguing and unflattering insights into the business ethics and inner workings of television’s high-volume shopping channels, but the novelty dims as the pretty-housewife-turns-mega-entrepreneur story gives way to your standard “anyone can be President” soap, and with a mop would you believe.
The acting is sharp, controlled, and often humorous in a downtown Bronx kind of way, and the regular sideshows into feminine vulnerabilities and strengths ensures Joy has a place on the shelves of feminist film, but only just.
There are too many distractions that limit the film’s potential to provide insight into the human spirit under extreme adversity. If Joy were Jim or some other male the story would flop like her mops, so it rests entirely on the shoulders of the implacable Jennifer Lawrence to make us see beyond the film’s clichés about the crushing effects of American capitalism on the individual. The American Rifle Association must have leapt for Joy when she admits to feeling better after shooting a few rounds to relieve her pent-up anger about male treachery and being told go home to tend the family.
Overall, this is an entertaining, if somewhat clichéd story of feminine triumphalism in the fabricated-value world of television commerce.
Director: David O. Russell 
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper
CineMuseFilms 
Your review is unsurprising but disappointing, I haven’t seen it yet and was hoping for more 😕
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Fine review sir! As you know, I thought the film was a mess. Lawrence is really the only redeemable thing about it. The material itself (and the delivery) was woeful.
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Good review. As you state on my review (http://coolpapae.com/2016/01/24/joy-norma-rae-can-stuff-it/), I agree with the cliche as far as the half-sister (who did not exist in real life) and the forced woman vs. the odds ending which seemed tacked on. The acting is sublime for the most part and a lot of the first 2 acts didn’t even seem like a movie.
That said, I appreciate your review and keep rolling.
Cool Papa E.
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Yours is full of useful information; well done.
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This is a composite picture of strong women so it made for an interesting film. What makes it engrossing to watch is seeing how Joy overcomes her obstacles. Strength and tenacity are good messages.
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Its debatable whether this story is about a woman’s strength and tenacity or whether is a anti-feminist put-down of women’s weaknesses. I’m leaning towards the latter personally; a mistress of mops allowed to excel by males? Really?
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I think it depends on the mindset of the beholder.
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Just watched Joy last night and was pleasantly surprised. I think it could have been tightened up a bit, but I didn’t see anything that resembled anti-feminist put down of women’s weaknesses…unless you’re jabbing at Joy’s ludicrous mother and sister. It could be argued that they represented some long-approved and expected female roles that were still very much alive during the time this film was set. There were lots of cliched characters, to be sure, but I think those cliches were intentional. That Joy’s whole life and success hinged on a lowly mop, is a sublime bit of irony. Lawrence’s acting was stellar and it was delightful to see Isabella Rosselini on screen and acting more or less her age.
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My reading of this film is that it treats a talented and successful female as something extraordinary who can only exist if the right male is there to support her. The mop to me is a metaphor for “let them excel in the kitchen etc” rather than excel in the world of men. While it is based on a true story, there are many ways it could be told and I think it chose a somewhat cliched plotline and characterisation that shows amazement at how clever women can be. Am I over-thinking this one?
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Dunno. We’re all entitled to our own impressions. I took it as a sarcastic piece. I didn’t see males being particularly supportive. Quite to the contrary, she had to learn to stand up to men, including her father, and it was the realization that, despite years of prior programming, she was successful in doing that. Hillary has spent a lifetime battling the cliches in the political arena, this woman did so in the business arena. Empowerment matters at all levels. Just my opinion. 🙂
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