Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.
Joy features a committed, electric performance from Jennifer Lawrence that anchors the film, with solid support from Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. The based-on-true-story narrative of Joy Mangano's rise is engaging but unevenly structured, with the film struggling tonally between gritty realism and quirky Russellian magic-realism. David O. Russell's direction is kinetic but visually unremarkable, relying on handheld energy without distinctive visual storytelling. The story of a woman fighting a rigged system to protect her invention feels genuine and timely but doesn't break new ground narratively. The ending delivers a satisfying arc for Joy but feels somewhat rushed and overly tidy given the messiness of the preceding journey.