Rarely in life do we ever get to achieve all the goals that we set ourselves as children and our dreams seem to fall by the way side as life catches up.
Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is the story of one woman living an unremarkable life who manages to turn it around with one prophetic dream. Over worked with a house hold full of chaos, Joy comes home from her job every night to a mother that sits in bed all day; her father Rudy (Robert De Niro) who lives in the basement with her ex-husband Tony (Édgar Ramirez) who is a failed musician and manages to annoy Rudy with his very existence.
When Joy, ever the inventor, comes up with a creation that will revolutionise the home mop, she puts everything into her new found purpose and with the help of a shopping network executive, Neil (Bradley Cooper) uses every dime she has in an effort to bring her creation to life.
Based on the life of Joy Mangano, the movie is at times chaotic, yet the cast manage to hold their own in a story that is fast paced and a times funny and charming. Both Lawrence and De Niro are a delight to watch on screen as Joy weathers the storm of creating a new business. Isabella Rossellini steps in as Rudy’s love interest and investor for Joy and is a welcome addition to the cast. At times the narration of Joy’s beloved Grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd) is a calming effect on the chaos and works rather well.
Joy is the interesting tale of how with a little hope, courage and a lot of determination that dreams even when left by the way side can be picked back up and life can be changed in the blink of an eye.
7/10
Reviewer: Amanda Starkey