Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro reunite with director David O. Russell for the new film "Joy". Time Warner Cable News movie critic Neil Rosen filed the following review.
Jennifer Lawrence plays a Long Islander loosely based on the real life Joy Mangano, a financially strapped mom who invented the Miracle Mop. This product eventually made her a multi-millionaire, but it was a tough road to get there, and the movie charts her rags to riches story.
Joy's dysfunctional family includes an ex-husband who lives in the basement, her mom - played by Virginia Madsen - who lies in bed all day and watches TV, and her dad, now divorced and prone to emotional outbursts, played by Robert De Niro.
It's a strange movie in the sense that I hated the first half-hour, which frequently focuses on bizarre soap opera scenes that Madsen's character is constantly watching. Plus De Niro and the bizarre family dynamic, early on, is too over the top.
But then the movie switches gears and tone, once Joy invents the mop and decides to be an entrepreneur. She tries to get investor money from De Niro's wealthy new love interest, played by Isabella Rossellini, and all of a sudden the film becomes interesting.
Once she gets to QVC and Bradley Cooper enters the film, as a television executive who has the power to decide who can sell their products on his network, the film soars and it's great. Particularly interesting is a behind the scenes look at QVC itself, and there's even a cameo of Melissa Rivers playing her mother Joan.
Cooper is good here, but I really liked Jennifer Lawrence's performance. She captures the determination of this woman who overcomes gender obstacles in the 1990's business world. But by the end, in a scene that reminded me of an episode of Shark Tank, Joy was portrayed too much like a saint.
This is not David O. Russell's finest work. It's no "American Hustle" or "The Fighter." But it's still a solid effort worth seeing. Just get past the bad beginning.
Neil Rosen’s Big Apple Rating:
Three Apples