One improbable dilemma after another.......

Rating: 3/10 (3 January 2016)

How can you not like a movie with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert Di Niro? Take a David O. Russell screenplay only half based on entrepreneur Joy Magano's invention of the Miracle Mop, fill it with a series of implausible straw men, then knock them down over the course of two hours leading to the happy ending we all know is coming because it's the story of the successful Miracle Mop, not the Flop Mop. People have analogized Joy's situation to Cinderella, but it seemed to me more like Rocky. Each time poor Joy takes a punch and hits the canvas, we are rooting for her ("Get up, Joy!"). The problem is that each setback is completely avoidable and, thus, becomes infuriating to the viewer. Examples: Marketing guru, Bradley Cooper, agrees to get her product on QVC but gives it to a pitchman who has never used the product and doesn't like it. When Joy insists on demonstrating the product herself (which did happen), she is dressed in a fancy outfit- just the thing you'd wear when mopping a floor! Genius, Bradley Cooper! Then the parts supplier attempts to extort Joy by raising the prices after the success of the product. What, no contract covering this? When Joy learns her intellectual property rights are not protected, it is explained that her financial backer- who meticulously monitors the expenditure of every penny- has consulted a lawyer who is not an expert in IP rights. How meticulous! Everyone but Joy throws their hands up in despair saying there is nothing to be done but file bankruptcy. Here's a thought. How about suing the lawyer for legal malpractice for giving IP advice without any expertise? When Joy learns that the real IP holder is in Texas, Joy meets him in a motel room, spins out some convoluted explanation as to why his claim over the IP rights is "fraud" and gets him to sign a one page disclaimer of all IP rights right then and there without years of litigation. The longer this movie went on, the more I hated it. Except for Joy, none of the characters were likable. Some critics apparently find it impossible to be objective because of the pedigree of the David O Russell, JLaw, Bradley Cooper collaboration (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle). But, many IMDb viewers have been courageous enough to say this emperor had no clothes and I joint their ranks.