Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

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mfunk9786
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#26 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:23 pm

HAL 9000 wrote:I would agree with a lot of people here on that the first part of Joy is not that great and the second part is much better. My take on the first part is that it reminded me of a Martin Scorsese film, Goodfellas in particular. You know, with the moving camera work, the vintage music from the era that the film takes place and the narration from the grandmother. I found it to be rather forced and not natural. However, the second part when she gets into selling the mop was done much better. I think they really needed to do some more runs through the typewriter as Gene Siskel would say regarding the first half so it would work better. Maybe you could cut a fairly large portion of the first part and make the movie more about Joy's career as a business woman. I don't know. Maybe even go further with the story and show more of her career. The first part grew rather tiresome after a while and there were a few people that left the theater before the film ended. That's just my two cents.
Yeah, but what did you think of the first part?

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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#27 Post by HAL 9000 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:34 pm

@mfunk Yeah, I just thought it seemed awfully staged and theatrical. Things like Joy's mother and the plumber carrying bowls of cereal into a room did not make any sense to me. And why does DeNiro move into his exwife's house when they are already divorced? The first part quickly became cringe worthy and I think the laughter in the theater slowly began to die down as the film wore itself thin. There are other things like her not being successful with her mop which seemed like the cliche where a person doesn't reach their goal and then, like a fair amount of Hollywood films, things turn around and they're successful. I think that's what I would say about the first part.

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domino harvey
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NOW I'll sully Tashlin's name

#28 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:43 pm

I steered clear of this due to the underwhelmed/negative response it garnered here and elsewhere, but, uh, I loved this, and I think it's pretty easily Russell's best since Flirting With Disaster. As I noted in my Accidental Love writeup, Russell can be a gifted comic filmmaker in the same way Tashlin could, via presentation. By knowing when to hold, move, and present his characters within the screen, Russell gives us a film that feels funnier than it is on paper. This is a surprisingly dynamic movie, constantly moving with forward momentum, even as it takes its sweet time to establish the home life of Jennifer Lawrence (for good reason, despite the bellyaches in this thread). When Lawrence faces obstacles, they're felt, and when she finds successes, they're earned. Having sat through so many biopics that fail to inspire despite the best of intentions, how lovely to find one that posits life is unfair, but sometimes not giving up does bring huge returns. Making trite truisms feel fresh is almost as impressive as the fact that the film also survives the handicap of its AM Gold soundtrack too!

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Re: NOW I'll sully Tashlin's name

#29 Post by StevenJ0001 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:06 pm

domino harvey wrote:I steered clear of this due to the underwhelmed/negative response it garnered here and elsewhere, but, uh, I loved this...
I have nothing to add right now except: thank you for defending this terrific film!

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tenia
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#30 Post by tenia » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:09 pm

I prefered The Fighter but I was pleasingly surprised by Joy which, while probably not being extremely fascinating, flies by quite efficiently.
I also remember quite fondly De Niro's role as being surprisingly subdued, but also in an efficient "less-is-more" way (especially, I seem to recall he don't end up with a lot of screen time).

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domino harvey
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#31 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:18 pm

I liked the scene late in the film where De Niro just says the most cartoonishly awful demoralizing shit to Lawrence and instead of culminating in a big cathartic blowup at him directly, she internalizes it towards solving her problem. There's a welcome complexity to the frustrations Lawrence's character faces in, well, all of the other characters!

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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#32 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:30 pm

Surprised I never commented here, but yeah, I liked Joy and Accidental Love more than most of Russell's films.

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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#33 Post by John Shade » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:42 pm

This post is reminding me for the biopic thread that Russell has worked in the genre a few times recently. Add me to the list of supporters of this film; I remember when it came out a friend of mine saying that it was three scripts for three movies and none of them worked (the soap opera stuff; family drama; invention of the mop and QVC bits?). In spite of the AM Gold remark, I really liked the piano instrumental of Springsteen's "Racing in the Street". For the record though, I've liked most of Russell's movies, even American Hustle (went from critical darling to hated very fast, even for our current cycle these days) and especially I Heart Huckabees...seemingly loathed on this board, but probably now an anomaly in Russell's canon.
Last edited by John Shade on Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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knives
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#34 Post by knives » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:45 pm

I maintain that American Hustle simultaneously is the best representation of Obama era multiculturalism and final word on a certain type of baby boomer nostalgia in the positive (which I assume is the main reason it was so hated).

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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#35 Post by connor » Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:35 pm

knives wrote:I maintain that American Hustle simultaneously is the best representation of Obama era multiculturalism and final word on a certain type of baby boomer nostalgia in the positive (which I assume is the main reason it was so hated).
It was surprisingly sophisticated politically -- the whole contemporary, post-New Deal/Great Society liberal obsession with "corruption" taking precedence over any egalitarian concerns. I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#36 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:37 pm

Jennifer Lawrence went in depth about why she likes working with David O. Russell (when queried in sort of a "he's an intense and complicated guy, why him?" type of way that felt fair to ask) on WTF today and her answer made total sense to me. Apparently they're shooting a new one in the fall.


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knives
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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#38 Post by knives » Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:56 pm

Admittedly Russell just works for me, but I fell in love with this open and heartfelt film. It's as funny as Domino says, but the thing that worked best for me is how in love the film is with all of its characters. They're a flawed bunch who aggravate each other, but for the camera they're a fun lot. It's kind of an ideal hangout film with great performances from everyone. It also continues the interest in culture and the mixing of it from American Hustle though this is a more intimate portrait.

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Re: Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)

#39 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:09 pm

Russell really knows how to bring the best out of all his actors, but it sure takes the right guy to create a motivating space for De Niro to give his best roles in decades (and I think he's even greater here than he was in Silver Linings Playbook). I was moderately impressed with this on the first watch, but like American Hustle it got miles better with returns. The fragmented narrative in the first quarter serves its purpose as an agglomeration of memories that reflect various dreams developing on the verge of coming true, and contrasting them with reality swooping in to pop the balloons prematurely. The scattered movement between past and present lends earned glamor to the phenomenal highs of life, and the sobering challenges that threaten to destroy jubilation with heaviness. As others have said, Russell shoots this with so much exuberance that we can't help but find satisfaction in the pleasures and the pains, and see this melting pot of diverse experiences as net positive when the lens encompasses all with an framework of holistic acceptance (and given the position of the film's narrator, it makes sense that we'd get a heavenly edge).

This theme is illustrated from the moment Lawrence's idea begins brewing as a consequence from getting bloody cuts on her hands. It's a fascinating approach to take for the story of an inventor, in demonstrating how opportunities for discovery stem from one's capacity to reframe perspectives on life's apparently-negative intrusions into limitless possibilities through exercising cinema's many facets to reframe all into an optimistic, loose attitude himself. I get the impression that just like American Hustle, and frankly much of his work, Russell believes that the people who understand suffering are the ones who are also the most dignified and capable of rising up and taking control of life, like Isaac Newton's law applied to yin and yang. Or conversely, perhaps these people who are enthusiastic about life enough to capitalize on their inspirations are the most interesting, have the most worth, and deserve the most empathy- which Joy pays forward in the end. I think both may be true in Russell's worlds, and I certainly have a blast joining his visions of the human experience as a divine comedy, even when temporarily transitioning into tragedy, because with the right response all shades return to triumph through self-betterment.

Even Cooper's speech of dedication to conservatism is validated in a Hawksian winning fashion, just as Joy's retort speaks his language in her own distinct voice. It's empowerment of character at its fullest, locating the strengths in everyone with ease and earnestness, and then laughing at the weaknesses as its own form of love. Not accepting "No" as an answer to destiny is the only way to get what we want, and while we can't all pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to control every aspect of our lives, we sure can try our best at every turn.

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