Joy?

Rating: 6/10 (26 May 2016)

The funniest lines in "Joy" were used in the trailer – both of them.
However the trailer doesn't really give much of an idea as to what the film is about, and it's hardly a straight-out comedy – it's hard to pin the film down to a single genre.
Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence) struggles to make a better life for her two young children and herself, although circumstances conspire to drag her down. When she invents a simple but effective household device, she enters into the world of mega merchandising. At first this brings even more anguish to her family and herself until, through sheer perseverance, things finally start to go her way.
The film has as many heavy-handed touches as it does inspired ones. If "Joy" wasn't based on the life of a real person – I have a wardrobe full of her Huggable Hangers – the plot of the film would seem more dysfunctional than the way Joy's family is portrayed. But with that said, Jennifer Lawrence does give an amazing performance.
The film crams in almost too much, and has trouble settling into a consistent mood until about halfway through.
We get the extreme quirk of Joy's family, nearly all of whom live with her. Her mother has withdrawn from life and stays in her bedroom watching television; her ex-husband, Tony, and then her father, Rudy (Robert DeNiro), live in her basement – despite the fact that they hate each other. Maybe it was all true; although you would think situations like that only turn up in movies to provide very contrived comic relief.
The movie starts to click into gear when Joy gets involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the product she has invented. She encounters many hurdles. Bradley Cooper makes an impact as Neil Walker, a telemarketing guru who gives Joy the chance to make it big, although his constant referencing of Hollywood moguls as role models is just another odd touch in a movie that has plenty of them.
"Joy" is an interesting movie rather than a captivating one. However anyone planning on an appearance on "Dragon's Den" or "Shark Tank" may find Joy's struggle to get her inventions across the line an eye-opening experience.