There's something entrancing about this film

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2016)

I'm writing this within a couple days of the Oscar nomination announcements, and it's very likely that Joy won't get the accolades as David O Russell's previous films but that's not to say that this isn't a worthy accomplishment on its own.
Jennifer Lawrence (in her third collaboration with David O Russell) plays a single mom with big aspirations and a family that weighs her down. From a an ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez) and father (Robert DeNiro, also in his third collaboration with David O Russell) who want to crash with her, to a judgmental sister, to a mother (Virginia Madsen) who's resigned to laying in bad watching soap operas, there's a lot of dead weight.
Lawrence seeks to up her station in life through inventing a miracle mop and it's a long hard road ahead for her.
The film is part adult family drama and part capitalist love story and both parts are infused with the inventiveness David O Russell produced with American Hustle. Joy is kinetic, enthusiastic, and, like American Hustle, the story is based on the instincts of the actors rather than the historical facts. It's an interesting way to make a "based on a true story" film and I'm glad that Russell is continuing to develop his method.
A lot of the movie's emotional base lies in rich relationships. David O Russell has said in interviews that he was attracted to the project because it boasted the "Best divorced couple in America" which is just a little objectionable because it isn't until a couple scenes in that Edgar Ramirez's character stops being a dead weight and actually helping. There is a lot to praise, performance-wise, as long as the relationships are working, however, and Ramirez starts really shining when he's getting along with Joy. De Niro, Madsen, and Lawrence shine but that's always a given.
If you like what David O Russell did with American Hustle, this film is definitely for you.