I fell in love with David O. Russell after his masterpiece"American Hustle." It had amazing characters, fabulous costumes, an over-the-top plot based loosely on actual events and was, simply put, a lot of fun.
So I guess I was expecting a little more of the same with his recent film, "Joy," which tells the story of a woman who beats the odds, invents a mop that sells well on QVC, and ends up building an empire. It's inspired by the story of Joy Mangano, inventor of the Miracle Mop and a slew of other household gadgets.
With Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role and a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper and the ever-elegant and eternally-stunning Isabella Rossellini, "Joy" promised to astound. I watched this film waiting for the intrigue, the spectacle and the fun. What I got instead was a frustrating downer of a movie that turns every triumph into a failure andtrained me to expect nothing good for its protagonist.
"Joy" is such a misnomer. Russell should have named the movie "Chore" instead.
THE FILM
Joy (Lawrence) is a single mom who can't seem to catch a break. She's taking care not only of her two children, but also of her introvert mother (Virginia Madsen) who watches soap operas all day, and her grandmother (Diane Ladd), who seems to be Joy's only cheerleader.
With her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) crashing in the basement and her dad, Rudy (De Niro), moving in, Joy's house is full of bickering ingrates who seem to exist solely to destroy Joy.
It seems Rudy might be on his way out, though, when he starts dating the exotic Trudy (Rossellini). Trudy is a well-to-do widow, and she invites everyone to go boating with her on her magnificent sailboat. It's on this very boat that a mishap (one of dozens, perhaps hundreds throughout the movie) inspires Joy to create a mop that can be rung out without touching it and washed in a washing machine.
She takes to the drawing board and comes up with a rudimentary idea of how the mop should work. But she needs funding, and the only person she knows who could afford to back the project is her dad's new girlfriend.
And so begins the cycle of one step forward and thirty steps back. You can bet money that every time Joy succeeds at something, there'll be a more devastating blow to her plight. She can secure the money? Good! But, oh, she can't manufacture the product. She can manufacture the product? Hooray! Oh, darn, the manufacturers are scamming her out of money. She outwits the scammers? Awesome! Oh, but her dad and half-sister intervene and screw everything up.
Even when QVC exec Neil Walker (Cooper) gives her product a chance, the product conveniently fails on live TV.
There is no happiness in "Joy." And when those triumphant moments happen, I loathed them because I knew what follows would be nothing but trouble. This emotional tug-of-war wears you down to the point that when the happy ending finally does come around you're not even sure if it's really a happy ending or not.
Seriously. Ifyou've seen this movie, could you tell me if I'm supposed to be happy at the end? Because if the plot were to continue after the credits roll as it did throughout the story, then Joy probably loses a hand in a freak kitchen explosion when she accidentally lights a doctor's note on fire that informed her of her recent breast cancer diagnosis.
THE EXTRAS
Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to the extras on "Joy," if for no other reason than to hear the real-life story of the woman who went on to build a home shopping empire. There's no way it could have been as horrific as the film, and it'd be nice to see the woman happy and successful.It would have been an excellent addition to the Blu-ray, but it was sadly absent.
Joy, Strength andPerseverance
We actually getto meet the real Joy—for several seconds. She's on the screen just long enough to introduce herself before it cuts away to Russell telling us why he likes to make the kind of movies he makes. The rest of this special feature is nothing more than the director and actors telling us why the characters do what they do and behave the way they behave.
Times Talk with Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell and Maureen Dowd
This hour-long interview with Lawrence and Russell, conducted by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, is as much a chore to watch as the film. Neither Lawrence nor Russell seem particularly excited to be there, although Jennifer does have some cute responses (like how she hasn't mopped her own house since the first "Hunger Games" premiered).
IS IT WORTH OWNING?
If you're so desperate to know Joy Mangano's story, I'd suggest going to her website and watching the HSN special about her life there. If you're a glutton for punishment, then I guess you might want to add "Joy" to your shelf. But for me, this film is the kind I'll only watch once. Save the $19.95 you'd pay for this Blu-ray at Wal-Mart and get yourself a Miracle Mop instead.
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