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#767 - Joy
David O. Russell, 2015
In the 1970s, a divorced mother of two plans to support her dysfunctional family by inventing and selling a technologically superior mop.
Like David O. Russell's previous film, the 2013 con-artist comedy American Hustle, Joy is a loose cinematic adaptation of a true story that admits how much creative licence it takes at the beginning with a title card that says it was "inspired by true stories of daring women". The woman in question is the eponymous Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), who begins the film as a divorcee and single mother who is living out of a rather cramped house with not only her two children but also her mother (Virginia Madsen), father (Robert de Niro), grandmother (Diane Ladd), and ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez). Desperate to support the many members of her family, Joy soon resorts to tapping into her unappreciated talent for inventing things; after an unpleasant experience involving the cleaning up of spilled wine and broken glass, she decides to work on designing a more efficient mop, but the events of this film definitely prove that invention is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration...
Russell's last few films have covered subjects ranging from boxers to mental patients to scam artists but they have all been connected not just by the same loose stable of actors but also a lot of the same thematic preconceptions, such as how all of them involve dysfunctional families that prove just as much of a threat to the protagonists' success as any actual antagonists. Joy is no different in that regard but it may have bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to its subject matter. Just because the plot revolves around a concept as fundamentally mundane as that of a woman launching a career by making a mop doesn't mean that it couldn't have yielded a potentially fascinating film. Unfortunately, that's not the case here as it runs through a very dry story with very little in the way of favourable distinctions. While Lawrence plays a character who is a lot less outwardly obnoxious here than in previous collaborations with Russell, this isn't much of an improvement as she aims for savvy understatement and grace under pressure but instead feels awfully flat and gives off the impression of going through the motions.
The supporting cast doesn't fare much better; de Niro plays an eccentric working-class father that's no different from his character in Silver Linings Playbook (with his quirk here being his perfectionist romanticism instead of an obsession with the NFL), while Madsen is unrecognisable (for better or worse) as Joy's neurotic television-addicted mother. Ladd not only serves as Joy's kindly grandmother but also delivers seemingly omniscient narration from her character's perspective, creating a rather treacly performance in the process, while Ramirez leaves next to no impression despite his character's emotionally charged nature that can and does alternate between passionate diatribes and subtle emoting (and that's without mentioning Dascha Polanco doing her best in the one-dimensional role of Joy's best friend). Russell regular Bradley Cooper appears as an executive in charge of a home-shopping television channel, though even his strengths as a handsome smooth-talker aren't enough to help him provide either a well-rounded individual character or a good foil for Joy. The performance that leaves the most favourable impression is arguably Isabella Rosselini, who delivers a tempestuous but complicated performance as a wealthy widow who provides the capital for Joy's venture.
Another thing that stood out to me about Joy was how much the film seems to draw attention to its own lack of style or personality to the point where I do wonder if it was by design. The film begins with footage of a period-appropriate soap-opera being filmed complete with garish art direction, trite dialogue, and overwrought yet stilted performances; throughout the film, there are plenty of scenes where a soap opera is playing in the background (and, in at least one scene, becomes the setting of Joy's nightmares). The generally overblown and blatantly artificial nature of the soap operas may serve as amusing kitsch on the surface but it also serves to expose holes in how the film proper treats its subject matter; though Joy may be a prestigious drama crafted by an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and starring an ensemble of talented actors, there are plenty of instances where it feels far too similar to the glitzy televised melodrama playing out in the background for its own good. Duplicitous allies, drastic set-backs, unexpected tragedies...the list goes on. Several scenes seem to be structured like the episodic cliff-hangers that are a staple of serialised soaps; while such a statement should imply that the scenes in question provide tension and anticipation, the film as a whole ultimately results in neither due to a sheer lack of surprises.
At times, Joy feels like it could pass for a parody of itself and other supposedly unconventional Hollywood biopics. In trying to stay grounded in the outwardly mundane but inwardly significant events surrounding the formation of a small business based around a cleaning product, Joy feels like it might pull off the same feat as its protagonist and become something more than what people expect it to be. Unfortunately, the resulting film is an incredibly drab excuse for an ensemble drama where Russell provides some seriously diminished returns on the same qualities that made his earlier films so acclaimed and successful. His relatively unorthodox approach to genres ranging from sports drama to romantic comedy fails to make a significantly positive difference to this rags-to-riches biopic and in fact only threatens to make it just as boring as its premise may suggest. There may be talented actors in the mix but they are wasted on some very flat characters and fail to generate much in the way of interest; though Lawrence does get to play a more understandably sympathetic character than in her previous collaborations with Russell, it comes at the cost of making her a virtual cipher in terms of definition or nuance. Despite the film's plot being driven by the concept of innovation in the face of adversity, the film itself is almost entirely lacking in innovation and feels like as much of a chore as actual mopping.
David O. Russell, 2015
In the 1970s, a divorced mother of two plans to support her dysfunctional family by inventing and selling a technologically superior mop.
Like David O. Russell's previous film, the 2013 con-artist comedy American Hustle, Joy is a loose cinematic adaptation of a true story that admits how much creative licence it takes at the beginning with a title card that says it was "inspired by true stories of daring women". The woman in question is the eponymous Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), who begins the film as a divorcee and single mother who is living out of a rather cramped house with not only her two children but also her mother (Virginia Madsen), father (Robert de Niro), grandmother (Diane Ladd), and ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez). Desperate to support the many members of her family, Joy soon resorts to tapping into her unappreciated talent for inventing things; after an unpleasant experience involving the cleaning up of spilled wine and broken glass, she decides to work on designing a more efficient mop, but the events of this film definitely prove that invention is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration...
Russell's last few films have covered subjects ranging from boxers to mental patients to scam artists but they have all been connected not just by the same loose stable of actors but also a lot of the same thematic preconceptions, such as how all of them involve dysfunctional families that prove just as much of a threat to the protagonists' success as any actual antagonists. Joy is no different in that regard but it may have bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to its subject matter. Just because the plot revolves around a concept as fundamentally mundane as that of a woman launching a career by making a mop doesn't mean that it couldn't have yielded a potentially fascinating film. Unfortunately, that's not the case here as it runs through a very dry story with very little in the way of favourable distinctions. While Lawrence plays a character who is a lot less outwardly obnoxious here than in previous collaborations with Russell, this isn't much of an improvement as she aims for savvy understatement and grace under pressure but instead feels awfully flat and gives off the impression of going through the motions.
The supporting cast doesn't fare much better; de Niro plays an eccentric working-class father that's no different from his character in Silver Linings Playbook (with his quirk here being his perfectionist romanticism instead of an obsession with the NFL), while Madsen is unrecognisable (for better or worse) as Joy's neurotic television-addicted mother. Ladd not only serves as Joy's kindly grandmother but also delivers seemingly omniscient narration from her character's perspective, creating a rather treacly performance in the process, while Ramirez leaves next to no impression despite his character's emotionally charged nature that can and does alternate between passionate diatribes and subtle emoting (and that's without mentioning Dascha Polanco doing her best in the one-dimensional role of Joy's best friend). Russell regular Bradley Cooper appears as an executive in charge of a home-shopping television channel, though even his strengths as a handsome smooth-talker aren't enough to help him provide either a well-rounded individual character or a good foil for Joy. The performance that leaves the most favourable impression is arguably Isabella Rosselini, who delivers a tempestuous but complicated performance as a wealthy widow who provides the capital for Joy's venture.
Another thing that stood out to me about Joy was how much the film seems to draw attention to its own lack of style or personality to the point where I do wonder if it was by design. The film begins with footage of a period-appropriate soap-opera being filmed complete with garish art direction, trite dialogue, and overwrought yet stilted performances; throughout the film, there are plenty of scenes where a soap opera is playing in the background (and, in at least one scene, becomes the setting of Joy's nightmares). The generally overblown and blatantly artificial nature of the soap operas may serve as amusing kitsch on the surface but it also serves to expose holes in how the film proper treats its subject matter; though Joy may be a prestigious drama crafted by an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and starring an ensemble of talented actors, there are plenty of instances where it feels far too similar to the glitzy televised melodrama playing out in the background for its own good. Duplicitous allies, drastic set-backs, unexpected tragedies...the list goes on. Several scenes seem to be structured like the episodic cliff-hangers that are a staple of serialised soaps; while such a statement should imply that the scenes in question provide tension and anticipation, the film as a whole ultimately results in neither due to a sheer lack of surprises.
At times, Joy feels like it could pass for a parody of itself and other supposedly unconventional Hollywood biopics. In trying to stay grounded in the outwardly mundane but inwardly significant events surrounding the formation of a small business based around a cleaning product, Joy feels like it might pull off the same feat as its protagonist and become something more than what people expect it to be. Unfortunately, the resulting film is an incredibly drab excuse for an ensemble drama where Russell provides some seriously diminished returns on the same qualities that made his earlier films so acclaimed and successful. His relatively unorthodox approach to genres ranging from sports drama to romantic comedy fails to make a significantly positive difference to this rags-to-riches biopic and in fact only threatens to make it just as boring as its premise may suggest. There may be talented actors in the mix but they are wasted on some very flat characters and fail to generate much in the way of interest; though Lawrence does get to play a more understandably sympathetic character than in her previous collaborations with Russell, it comes at the cost of making her a virtual cipher in terms of definition or nuance. Despite the film's plot being driven by the concept of innovation in the face of adversity, the film itself is almost entirely lacking in innovation and feels like as much of a chore as actual mopping.