Friday 15 January 2016

Joy (12A)

How do you know a new year has stated? The hangover? The sudden plethora of celebrity deaths? The new film from David O Russell starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper?

The first, probably. The second? Well, this year seems harsher than most on those whose work we love and cherish. The third? Seemingly...

So what fun and games have David and the team got for us this time?



Well...

Joy is the story of Joy, or Joy Mangano to give her her full name - she of the self-wringing mop, Huggable Hangers and star of the Home Shopping Network.

As you're probably already aware, Lawrence is Joy.

At least in name.

The film tells the story of her life, how she rose up from nothing to have her own business empire.

Along the way we meet her ex-husband, her soap-obsessed mother, her nan, her half-sister, her dad, his new girlfriend and Neil Walker, the man at the fledgling QVC channel who would play a key role in her success.

Sounds like a lot to pack into two hours? Yeah, just a tad.

Easily done, though, when you skip bits.

Coming off the back of huge hits The Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, hopes were high for this one.

O Russell has already shown he can put a film together, and he's got Oscar-winning performances from his stars. So sit back, relax, you're in safe hands.

Only something's not quite right here.

The initial problems are two-fold.

First, using granny (played by Diane Ladd) as the narrator gives the film a semi-documentary feel that leaves you feeling slightly detached from proceedings.

Then there's the soap opera that Joy's mum Terry (Virginia Madsen) is addicted to.

We step into the soap very early on, and flashback to it at irregular intervals - setting up a parallel, a mirror through which "real life" is being reflected.

At least I hope that's the point, because if not then something has gone seriously wrong.

Because throughout the film, you're left with the impression that no one is actually that bothered about being here.

Everyone just seems to be going through the motions. Acting slightly wooden and slightly bored.

All except for De Niro (Joy's wayward father), who is just busy being De Niro.

What you're left with is a slightly surreal feeling, because you keep asking yourself how could this director and this cast come up with a film that is this dull?

Half an hour in, and I'm fidgeting.

An hour, and I'm getting restless and wondering what else I could be doing with my time.

After 90 minutes, I'm asking questions. Questions like 'what happened to Joy's job?' 'Where did the money come from to suddenly pay bills?' 'Why am I having valedictorian explained to me with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer?' 'How did Isabella Rossellini go from that woman on the phone to pulling the purse strings?'

I'm also really hoping the film is going to end soon.

As I said, if the whole thing has been set up to mirror a bad daytime soap then O Russell's played a blinder.

Have no idea why he would do that or what purpose it would serve, but it's pretty nailed on.

If it hasn't...

Lawrence is up for an Oscar for this, which is just bizarre when her performance in a second-rate Hunger Games film is actually better.

Cooper doesn't seem to really know his character, and everyone else is, well, just there.

The problem is clearly in the script.

As mentioned, there are holes you could drive a truck through (how the hell did she learn to weld?), which is unforgivable when the actual woman at the centre of the story was involved.



There are a few smiles to be had, a couple of moments of drama, but the whole thing just feels like half an idea is being repeatedly wrung out like one of Joy's mops.

Maybe the actual story of Joy's rise to success was quite uneventful, maybe there were things she didn't want telling, but whatever was going on behind the scenes you come out of this feeling shortchanged.

Oh, and the ending will have you almost yelling at the screen.

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