We all love Jennifer Lawrence don't we? Lately she can't seem to do no wrong. Would that be the case for her in "Joy" as she chases a second Oscar win after being nominated for the third time at only the age of 25? Very impressive from the lead of the Hunger Games as she continues to grow more and more as an actress. Would Joy continue her ever growing reputation or would it be one to forget?
Joy certainly isn't what you will be feeling for most of this movie.
Now that may sound pretty malicious but it is all due to the story that this film is based on. The film follows the life of Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) as she tries to break through with one of her inventions. Many obstacles are in her way whether it be production problems or even dealing with troubles within her own household. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence alongside supporting characters played by Robert De Niro, Diane Ladd and Virginia Madsen. It is also the third collaboration between Jennifer Lawrence, director David O Russell and also fellow actor Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle being the others. A very successful combo in the past so all should be good, right?
The main talking points of this film have been about Jennifer Lawrence's performance due to the recent news that she will be up for the Oscar for Best Actress. I cannot argue with this as she did produce a great performance in this film. Lawrence did a great job on showing the character of Joy as she struggles with a lot in this film. Whether it is dealing with the great difficulties caused at home by her family or just the many obstacles thrown in her way as she tries to get her idea created and sold. She is great at showing her character struggling to keep it together at times and also how she powers through to try and reach her goals and ambitions. Another great performance from the young actress. I am not certain if she will win an Oscar this year but I'm pretty sure there will be more to see of her in this category in many years to come.
I wouldn't say this movie is filled with great performances to be honest. The second best performance in my book was from Elisabeth Rohm who plays Joy's younger sister. The character is such a brat and very unlikeable and isn't meant to be so I feel Rohm did a great job at this. I feel that the whole family in this were particularly unlikeable. The whole family seemed to be incredibly selfish and a constant pain in the arse. They are always looking to Joy to fix everything and make everything work whilst they do nothing. Bradley Cooper was also good but he really wasn't in the film an awful lot. In what he had to do he was good but didn't have as big a role as normal. The rest of the cast is fine. Nobody else really stands out but I wouldn't say that anybody in the film was terrible. Maybe a bit disappointing from Robert De Niro due to what he usually is like but he wasn't bad, just fine.
I definitely feel that the same could be said about the movie as a whole. I don't really feel that there was anything exactly amazing about the film. It was a good movie but that's about it. I can't say it was anything more really as I don't think it was anything more than that. There wasn't anything in this film that really struck me or is really a stand out moment. Maybe this is due to the fact that a lot of this film is based on a lot of struggle. There are short moments of triumph throughout "Joy" but they are almost always then stopped instantly as we face yet another obstacle. Joy definitely isn't what you are feeling most of the time. This was evident to me as there were groans of disbelief from fellow members of the audience when Joy was knocked back a few steps. This does show the true courage of Joy though as we see how tough everything has been for her as she looks to break through, but for most parts it isn't fun to watch.
There are a few bits to this film that I certainly found odd. For example at the start of the movie it said that this was the story told from the grandmother. However I feel that at times this was completely forgotten about. There were long periods of time with no voiceover or even an appearance from the grandmother and then she'd suddenly show up and once again disappear for a while. It didn't seem to have been done well and would've been better if they decided not to do it in my opinion. Also the way the story was told at times seemed very odd. There is a moment where Joy tells her ex-husband that he has to leave and that they have to move on with their lives. This would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that in the very next scene, he was accompanying her to an important meeting, clearly not moving on but staying closer together. It baffled me.
With that being said the story can be seen as pretty inspirational. The pride of the hard work that Joy puts in each day is something to look up to. As is her will and determination to get to where she wants to be no matter what has happened to her. A true hardworking woman who didn't let anything get in her way was definitely shown in "Joy" and is a true positive to be taken from this.
Final Verdict: Joy = C
A fine film with a great performance from Jennifer Lawrence. Nothing else really memorable about it and not one to be rushing to the cinema to see.
So another Oscar flick down and a lot more to go. Will you be going to check out Joy? And if you have already seen it, what did you think? Do you agree with the inclusion of Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Actress category? Once again thank you for reading, it means a lot!
By Angus McGregor
The main talking points of this film have been about Jennifer Lawrence's performance due to the recent news that she will be up for the Oscar for Best Actress. I cannot argue with this as she did produce a great performance in this film. Lawrence did a great job on showing the character of Joy as she struggles with a lot in this film. Whether it is dealing with the great difficulties caused at home by her family or just the many obstacles thrown in her way as she tries to get her idea created and sold. She is great at showing her character struggling to keep it together at times and also how she powers through to try and reach her goals and ambitions. Another great performance from the young actress. I am not certain if she will win an Oscar this year but I'm pretty sure there will be more to see of her in this category in many years to come.
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| Jennifer Lawrence was great once again |
I wouldn't say this movie is filled with great performances to be honest. The second best performance in my book was from Elisabeth Rohm who plays Joy's younger sister. The character is such a brat and very unlikeable and isn't meant to be so I feel Rohm did a great job at this. I feel that the whole family in this were particularly unlikeable. The whole family seemed to be incredibly selfish and a constant pain in the arse. They are always looking to Joy to fix everything and make everything work whilst they do nothing. Bradley Cooper was also good but he really wasn't in the film an awful lot. In what he had to do he was good but didn't have as big a role as normal. The rest of the cast is fine. Nobody else really stands out but I wouldn't say that anybody in the film was terrible. Maybe a bit disappointing from Robert De Niro due to what he usually is like but he wasn't bad, just fine.
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| The third collaboration between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper |
I definitely feel that the same could be said about the movie as a whole. I don't really feel that there was anything exactly amazing about the film. It was a good movie but that's about it. I can't say it was anything more really as I don't think it was anything more than that. There wasn't anything in this film that really struck me or is really a stand out moment. Maybe this is due to the fact that a lot of this film is based on a lot of struggle. There are short moments of triumph throughout "Joy" but they are almost always then stopped instantly as we face yet another obstacle. Joy definitely isn't what you are feeling most of the time. This was evident to me as there were groans of disbelief from fellow members of the audience when Joy was knocked back a few steps. This does show the true courage of Joy though as we see how tough everything has been for her as she looks to break through, but for most parts it isn't fun to watch.
There are a few bits to this film that I certainly found odd. For example at the start of the movie it said that this was the story told from the grandmother. However I feel that at times this was completely forgotten about. There were long periods of time with no voiceover or even an appearance from the grandmother and then she'd suddenly show up and once again disappear for a while. It didn't seem to have been done well and would've been better if they decided not to do it in my opinion. Also the way the story was told at times seemed very odd. There is a moment where Joy tells her ex-husband that he has to leave and that they have to move on with their lives. This would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that in the very next scene, he was accompanying her to an important meeting, clearly not moving on but staying closer together. It baffled me.
With that being said the story can be seen as pretty inspirational. The pride of the hard work that Joy puts in each day is something to look up to. As is her will and determination to get to where she wants to be no matter what has happened to her. A true hardworking woman who didn't let anything get in her way was definitely shown in "Joy" and is a true positive to be taken from this.
Final Verdict: Joy = C
A fine film with a great performance from Jennifer Lawrence. Nothing else really memorable about it and not one to be rushing to the cinema to see.
So another Oscar flick down and a lot more to go. Will you be going to check out Joy? And if you have already seen it, what did you think? Do you agree with the inclusion of Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Actress category? Once again thank you for reading, it means a lot!
By Angus McGregor
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