Jennifer Lawrence Takes Control of Her Destiny in ‘Joy’

Sandra Miska

Jennifer Lawrence shines in the dramedy “Joy,” a film based on the life of entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano, the women behind the Miracle Mop. “Joy” is the latest from filmmaker David O. Russell who previously directed Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle.”

Joy is first introduced as a struggling single mother and airline employee who lives not only with her two children but also with her shut-in mother Terry (Virginia Madsen), her supportive grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd) and her ex-husband Tony (Édgar Ramírez). The full house becomes complete once Joy’s father Rudy (Robert De Niro) shows up, having been kicked out by his girlfriend.

The usually glamorous Elisabeth Röhm plays Rudy’s dowdy eldest daughter Peggy, who, unlike her half-sister, has accepted her place in life. While Joy looks after their dad at home, Peggy helps run his business.

Flashbacks and scenes in present day establish Joy’s role in the family as the responsible one, the one who has sacrificed her dreams for everyone else’s. The only person who truly understands her is Mimi who serves as the film’s narrator and encourages her gifted granddaughter, the valedictorian of her high school who gave up her plan to go away to college in order to help her parents, to realize her full potential.

Life starts to turn around for Joy shortly after Rudy begins a relationship with wealthy widow Trudy (Isabella Rossellini). After a glass of red wine is spilled on Trudy’s boat during an excursion, Joy is struck with inspiration. She draws and eventually designs the first prototype for the Miracle Mop. After, she convinces Trudy to become her investor and even takes out a second mortgage in order to finance her venture.

In walks Bradley Cooper, or rather in walks Joy into the office of Cooper’s character Neil Walker, an executive at the newly created QVC network. Joy convinces Neil that her product is worth getting on the air, but that’s just half the battle.

“Joy” manages to be an excellent film about a woman pulling herself up by her bootstraps without being melodramatic. All the melodrama is saved for a fictional soap opera inside the movie featuring real-life “General Hospital” stars Laura Wright and Maurice Benard. What makes this film unique is not just the fact that it is about a businesswoman who becomes successful without sacrificing her vision and sanity, but that she does it without a love interest. Yes, Joy and Neil are soul mates but not in the romantic sense. The two understand each other in a very special way and as usual, Lawrence and Cooper have amazing on-screen chemistry.

Joy is an ideal role model not only because of her professional life but also for her personal life.  She manages to maintain a positive relationship with her ex-husband, a struggling musician, which is rare in these types of films. Although Joy and Tony never rekindle their marriage, he proves himself to be one of her biggest supporters.

“Joy” opens nationwide Dec. 25.