Joy

Grade: B

David O’Russell’s new film Joy is the damnedest movie. In its first 15 minutes or so, I thought I knew what road we were going down, and I didn’t like it. It was like a giant montage, or a series of comic strips. Quirky characters and situations were paraded on in an annoying frantic style which reminded me of something Wes Anderson would do. Thankfully, it settled down to become a movie about something, and it played much better once it finally came up for air after swimming so frenetically. It became interesting. O’Russell frequently uses voice-over narration in his movies. It’s a lazy storytelling trap to fall into; it’s always better to show rather than tell. Next time you see a scene with voice-over narration, ask yourself if you are really getting any information you otherwise wouldn’t, and imagine the scene and how it would play without it. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Joy’s soundtrack is terrific, which can sometimes be another red flag, as dumping lots of the best classic rock songs ever into your movie might be a form of compensation. O’Russell is collaborating with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert de Niro for the third time, after Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. Joy falls short of the former, which was one of the best movies of the year for me, and is slightly better than the latter. Lawrence has played so many strong-willed characters that in the future, I’d love to see her in a role that’s more timid, more likely to waver, and has less of a backbone. I’ll tell you one thing: the camera sure loves her.

Grade: B