Joy (2015)

Joy took place in 80's America, and is the story of a struggling woman who decided to struggle no more. Through her hardship we see our leading actress, Jennifer Lawrence, or rather Joy, turn into a strong woman who wasn't taking any Brad Pitt, with the support of her grandmother and ruthless family who eventually tried to buy her out of success. I guess you could say she mopped the floor with anybody she cross paths with on her journey to success.

Throughout this film I was baffled that they chose this particular story to depict the uprising of the strong, independent woman. The movie may well have been about the disposable diaper created by Donavon in the 50's, a lot more ground breaking. It was hard to put myself in her shoes and relate to her as a young woman in a male dominated industry because she made... a mop? Spoiler alert, as it's probably the climax of the film... Yes the making of the mop, is the climax of the film... I want to see stories about females who fly fighter jets and crush their opponents with their cherry colored, nail polished, bare hands. If anything this movie said to me, "why aren't you cleaning hard enough to then bleed and make a better invention, so that you and your fellow women will never experience this? What are you doing with your life? Trying to become the world's greatest female director? Really?"

Her dreams of inventions could have taken her anywhere, I understand it's based on a true story, but how about a couple of fighter jets to really get the ball rolling? No?

That aside, the imagery used was outstanding. Different shifts of dominance was used well and was clear to me as an audience member. The actors themselves stayed true to their characters, and it was hard to notice any aneurysms that the actors have had in their previous films - apart from De Niro’s grumpy cat face - but some things you can’t help.The colours established reflecting purity, wealth, ambition, submission was epic and pushed the story forwards dramatically, to the point I could say that in this instance, the editing made the movie. The cast chosen was probably a bit far fetched. EVERYONE WAS CRAZY HOT in other words, but it’s film. Films are created to escape a reality, and if in David O’Russells world, everyone looks like a krispy kreme donut after a 10 day fast, then so be it.