Joy is basically a story of
family, betrayal, setbacks, love and triumph.
The
movie follows a woman's journey of finding her strength and wealth. Joy is
played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is one of the most versatile actor or actress
doing movies now. She has done the action films such as the X-Men movies and The Hunger Games series to dramatic movies like American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook.
Also,
she won lots of acting awards like an Oscar.
Now,
she plays an incredible strong person in Joy. Lawrence has teamed up again
teamed up again with her Silver Linings
Playbook and American Hustle
director David O. Russell.
As
a child, Joy was known as Joy the Doer because of her childhood inventions such
as the florescent flea collar for dogs. As she got older, real life and her
family steps in her way of being an entrepreneur. She is taking care for kids
and her mom played by Virginia Madsen who does nothing else, but look at soap
operas.
Director
Russell uses real soap opera stars such as Susan Lucci to be in TV segments
that interact with Joy's life. Genius move.
I
enjoy movies that take you on a journey of someone's life. Sometimes, I like
when there is a narrator to the story. Joy
has a great narrator with the voice of Diane Ladd who plays Joy's
grandmother, Mimi. She shows us where Joy gets her imagination from.
What
makes Joy, an exceptional movie is the writing of Director Russell who wrote
the screenplay. One of Russell’s strength is the characters that he writes
about and then putting together an amazing cast to bring those characters to
life.
As
I mentioned before Ladd as Mimi who is always encouraging Joy. She lives with
Joy, along with Joy's ex-husband Tony play by Edgar Ramirez, who is a crooner
who lives in the basement. The story gets stranger as Rudy, Joy's dad played by
Robert De Niro is brought back to Joy’s house by his second wife. The scene is
very funny. Things gets funnier as Tony and Rudy have to share the basement with
only a stream of toilet paper to separates them.
Joy
is loaded down with the burden of a series of dead-end jobs, family and a life
going nowhere. While on a boat trip with the family, someone breaks a glass.
Joy cuts her hand while cleaning up the glass with a mop. She gets a creative
moment and designs a self rinsing wringing mop later called The Miracle Mop.
After
some ups and downs, Joy gets a break when Neil Walker played by Bradley Cooper,
the head of QVC gives her a chance to demonstrate her mop on live television.
The
story doesn't stop there. Joy has to deal with strange obstacles with The
Miracle Mop. This is when Lawrence really encapsulates Joy as she shows
business smarts and amazing strength when her back is against the wall.
Joy is being called a
biographical comedy-drama based on Joy Mangano, a woman who created her own
business empire which included The Miracle Mop and other patented products.
I
consider the story of Joy like a Cinderella story because some of the people
around her can be considered the evil step people in her life. There was no
glass slipper, no pumpkin chariot and no Prince Charming as Joy endured setback
after setback.
Joy will inspire not only
just women, but anyone who has a dream of a different life. I really enjoy Joy
because of the writing, the characters and Jennifer Lawrence.
If
you're looking for film that will not only tug at your heart but also your Joy. This movie is definitely for you.
