Joy

'Joy' is based, I guess loosely, on Joy Mangano who invented the squeeze mop and became a business tycoon. Oops, probably allowed a spoiler through there but then this is a matter of history so scarcely a surprise twist in Joy's story.

The film begins by detailing Joy's keen inventive mind as a child and how she toiled to provide for her extended family. Having established how downtrodden Joy is the film then depicts her struggle to establish herself against the odds.

The film relies on Jennifer Lawrence's performance in the title role. Lawrence is impressive in a film that otherwise didn't really win me over.

The Director and Writer is David O Russell who has established a reputation for creating films which seem to straddle art house and mainstream sectors without quite winning over either side, let alone both. It is the quirky elements of Russell's films that supposedly lift them. In 'Joy' the quirky element is his inclusion of soap opera scenes. I don't think it worked very well.

★★1/2