Miracles are hard to come by in the '90s...

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2016)

Jennifer Lawrence reteams with her "Silver Linings Playbook" and "American Hustle" writer-director David O. Russell for this sluggish, unconvincing non-feel-good movie, loosely based on the life story of Joy Mangano (who served as executive producer), a single mother and self-made entrepreneur from New York. Russell stacks the deck so high against his heroine that nothing in the third act brings us much satisfaction (the addition of Diane Ladd's too-patient voice-over as Joy's grandmother doesn't work, either--especially since the character doesn't make it through to the end). Lawrence shows true grit in the lead, displaying world-weary confidence and resolve, but this project is a bit on the thin side, and nothing in the QVC/home shopping section of the movie rings true. Large, talented supporting cast gives it a little bounce, although the soap opera/fantasy sequences don't work as satire (or whatever Russell intended them to be) and the final reel is a squashy mess. ** from ****