Joy

SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

Joy was probably one of the most promising movies of the past year.

It had a great trailer, a stellar cast and an accomplished director.

All the perfect ingredients to create a great film then.

Sadly, it didn't really deliver.

From the get-go, you get a sense that the movie was trying to be too clever and too complicated. Something that really stretches the competence of the people who made the movie.

I would have much preferred it if they had kept things simple and easy-to-follow instead of being over-ambitious with unique storytelling techniques and odd flashbacks scattered here and there.

In turn, these factors - along with some cardboard characters as well as some extremely annoying ones (especially the mother and bitchy half-sister Peggy), make the first... say, one-third of the movie really messy and confusing.

The movie does, however, find its feet after a while, and with that newfound rhythm, the story becomes much easier to follow.

It's at this point in the movie where the cast really show their qualities.

This cast (Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and director/writer David O. Russell) reunited for the third time for this movie, and although they're all lovely to see and watch, they do get a bit boring - as super talented as they may be.

Having said that, however, Jennifer Lawrence was truly fantastic in the movie.

Once again, she shows her marvellous qualities as one hell of a fine young actress.

I think her performance in Joy was even better than that of her first collaboration with David O. Russell in 2012, Silver Linings Playbook.

An Academy Award nomination was the least she deserved for her performance. A win would be nice and very well-deserved.

She portrays her character of Joy Mangano with such heart, passion and raw determination. A truly inspirational character, especially with all the struggles she faces throughout the course of the movie.

Speaking of struggles, this movie had PLENTY in its story.

Some of these struggles I saw coming, others just hit me like an oncoming train which I didn't see approaching.

In that sense, the struggles were a good factor. They were realistic in a way where "with every good thing that happens, a million bad things follow".

For the rest of the cast, well, "memorable" is the last word I'd use to describe them.

I don't blame the actors, either, cos they can't do much to alter the fact that their characters are such dull and forgettable things that appear on screen just for the sake of appearing on screen.

I did like Bradley Cooper's character though, but he just simply didn't have enough screen time, which is such a shame.

In many ways, I felt that Jennifer Lawrence carried the film throughout.

She was the bright spark in an otherwise lacklustre and bang-on average film. Hence, it was easy for her to shine in this one. Child's play.

Perhaps it's time David O. Russell found a new set of lead actors to appear in future projects, just for the sake of variety.

Pacing wise, I felt Joy was a little off.

It was so jumbled up in the first third, good in the second and odd in the final third. Together, it just made for a poorly paced story.

It also ended up making the movie feel so much longer than it really was.

Usually, I'll never check what the time is whenever I'm watching a movie.

The only time I do is when the movie is utter shite or if I'm due for an appointment right after.

At 124 minutes, I thought the movie would be easy to digest and not too draggy.

However, it was the opposite.

It felt like more than double its actual runtime, and that's not a good thing when the movie wasn't all that enjoyable.

All in all, Joy was a good concept, let down by poor execution and for being perhaps too ambitious.

It has an inspirational message, though, and Jennifer Lawrence carries that brilliantly in a stellar performance.

Women will love this film, as it shows the strength and courage of one who persevered through it all despite being hit by bombs more often than not.

For me, however, meh.

6.5/10.