Joy is a biographical drama film directed by David O’ Russell, the plot is based on the real-life story of the Queen of QVC Joy Mangano and her rise from struggling poverty to take the business world by storm.
This film is a very engrossing watch, you become fascinated by Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), and her mop business and begin to form an emotional attachment over the course of the film: one that desperately makes you want to see her succeed.
Was Lawrence’s performance worthy of an Oscar nod, no it wasn’t. She was an affable lead and one that was easy to root for, but another actor could have been just as good in the part at no point did I think she made the part her own as a result of this she would be easily replaceable.
I think the best scenes in the film were between Lawrence and Bradley Cooper (who played the head of the QVC network), I think though they only had a few short scenes together over the course of the film their on-screen chemistry was so strong that it stole the show.
On a different note as much as I love Robert DeNiro, I almost found him to be a distraction her with his overly hammy performance often taking me out of the film.
Another issue I have with this film is that it is bloated and could have been better served by a tighter edit.
Overall, an engaging and interesting film, however also one that received more praise then it deserved.
Pros.
The engaging narrative
Cooper and Lawrence have great chemistry
The personal connection you develop for the character
Cons.
Lawrence is interchangeable
DeNiro is too over the top
It has pacing issues
3/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 