The Film Reports

2.5 stars

Drama

I’m not sure if you remember this movie. It came out during Christmas season and it had that lovely shot of Jennifer Lawrence walking through the snow with her short hair and dark sunglasses all over the adverts and posters. That was my first impression of Joy.

Joy is about Joy – a fictional Joy inspired by the real-life Joy that invented the Miracle Mop. She is living in a dysfunctional family home with her two kids. Her mum lives in one room and watches tv all day while her ex-husband is still living in the basement. Then her dad arrives, his girlfriend had gotten tired of him and so he too moves into the basement. He then gets another girlfriend, Trudy, who ends up being the main investor for Joy’s brand new idea – a mop. Joy goes through ups and downs with her business but she emerges a stronger woman after it.

The plot was simple but quite captivating. It flowed beautifully. I thought Joy was, for the most part, an admirable character and I found her journey to becoming more independent to be convincing and a joy to watch. lol.

Overall, I liked the cast. I thought they were all really lovely to watch and so natural within their roles. It was a little strange to see Jennifer Lawrence as a mother of two but she does really well. Honourable mention to Bradley Cooper, who plays the guy in charge of a QVC channel – one of those channels where you call them up to buy things. I have seen these two actors act together before and I think the dynamic between them is always great. Second honourable mention to Dascha Polanco, who played Jackie, Joy’s right hand woman.

I did have a peculiar thought while watching this though, and that was that Joy feels like a specific kind of film. Like a made-for-tv low budget made by a small channel that you come across by accident. That’s not to say that it’s a bad film, because it’s not. It just feels like that kind of film. Maybe it’s the colour palette, or the costumes maybe.

In conclusion: I can see why this was released during Christmas, it’s a good film to watch as a family because of the simple plot. But would I watch this again? I doubt it.

Watch it: as a family, sunday evening?