Not a lot of joy in the first half but second half is an improvement

Rating: 5/10 (3 January 2016)

I have written this in an earlier review of another film and I will say it again, if a movie appears bad within the first 10-15 minutes, it will usually be bad. Bit different here as the first 10-15 minutes of Joy were cringe-worthy. Hell, whilst we're at it, the first half of the film was largely forgettable. Luckily, the second half was better but that's not enough to warrant a dramatic increase in the score I give it. If I were reviewing the first half of the film alone, it would have warranted a 3. The first half's story was all over the place like a dog's breakfast and some scenes and such were totally unnecessary and done nothing to help the story flow through. It wasted about an hour trying to get the point across to, what I would imagine, a slightly bored audience. Negatives for this are the aforementioned script/story and David O'Russell's directing, one instance being where one character is taking and the camera is one another character (eg. Robert De Niro is talking yet the camera is focused on Edgar Ramirez). that normally doesn't bother me but for some reason, it did here. Acting was all right, mainly from Jennifer Lawrence who plays a strong female role as Joy and avoids making her weak in any way and Bradley Cooper. Cooper can be a little hit and miss as an actor but he was badly needed in the first half. Even Robert De Niro wasn't bad in some parts, though we know he is past his prime. Although her character was annoying, it must be said Virginia Madsen blended in to her environment well as I only knew t was her after the credit rolled. It's one of them movies where it's not too good, it's not too bad, it's not even quite right but it's just take it or leave it.