Find Your Enjoyment Here

Rating: 7/10 (12 January 2016)

I don't think I've seen a movie where I didn't find, ah-hem, JOY in seeing Jennifer Lawrence on screen. Okay, fine, I haven't seen that panned House of horror flick of hers or Parts 2-3b of The Hunger Games, but the seven I have seen made me fall unabashedly and non-sexually in love with hertalent. Fine. She's gorgeous too, but, I digress.
Clichéd or easy to write or not, Joy is a joy to watch. It's also hard sometimes, but just seeing the fantastic Jennifer from scene to scene, as she strays from Take-Care-of-Everything Mom to her own person, it's worth the trip. Her dysfunctional family would make just about anyone scream and makes you fight in her corner all the more.
Joy's life is always on a thin thread while she manages her ex, her parents as exes and her bills and kids, but the inventor inside and that fire lit from her incredible grandmother/narrator makes her want to better everything, and everyone.
Now, her journey of creating a product from scratch to sell and help everyone in the family is shown fairly neat and even though it does show some conflict – as heart wrenching as it was, it does feel a little too easy, as if there was another hour or more footage to explain everything. As impatient as I am, I am happy with not having a three- hour movie here, though as skeptical as I really am, I would've really liked to see everything.
That all said, this somewhat sugarcoated WOMAN film was uplifting and worth the journey. Kinda reminded me of a simpler Erin Brockovich, which, by the way was much better, but if you liked that, you will find Joy here.
On a side noteunless Bradley and Jennifer are dating, or secretly twins, I don't see the absolute need to make them into this generation's Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. While Bradley wasn't necessarily bad here, he wasn't needed either and took a little away from the movie. He was an unnecessary distraction of what I wanted to know more about: Joy. Fine, same director, same actorsnot everyone needs to be J.J. Abrams. Concentrate on the big picture, David O. Russell and not your entourage. Annnd, rant over. Enjoy the show!