The movie Joy follows the life of Joy Mangano, a real-life inventor, shopping channel celebrity, and business woman. Joy’s life is portrayed from childhood through to her success and riches as a woman in her thirties.
Inspirational and fascinating, Joy Mangano’s real-life story gives the viewer a window to a female entrepreneur and a ring-side seat into the heady days of the QVC Shopping Network.
Despite the compelling factual story, the screenplay itself doesn’t create much emotional connection to the subject matter.
It’s not that this movie lacks rich characters. Joy’s mother, Terry, played by Virginia Madsen, feels familiar as she passively watches soap operas in the middle of her lonely, timid life; and Joy’s stepsister, Peggy, played by Elisabeth Rohm, serves up sibling rivalry with just the right tension. Isabella Rossallini’s character Trudy is also quite good as Rossallini portrays a passionate, fierce Italian widow.
But other characters feel luke-warm. Joy herself struggles and perseveres, but the viewer doesn’t quite empathize with her. That makes her relationship with her ex-husband, Tony, played by Edgar Ramirez, less than compelling. During the last third of the movie the viewer wonders if there will finally be some romantic energy on the screen, maybe between Joy and Bradley Cooper’s character, Neil. Even Robert’s De Niro’s Rudy feels vacant – too much dysfunction and not enough humor.
The story itself is fascinating – with a plethora of movies depicting male entrepreneurs, it’s refreshing to watch the development of a female entrepreneur and her perfect fit into the milieu of QVC and the Home Shopping Channel.
There is both fact and fiction in this portrayal of Joy Mangano. If you’re curious and have already seen the movie (because the article does discuss the plot in detail) Time Magazine has an online article “The True Story Behind the Movie Joy“
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy Mantago
Robert De Niro – Rudy
Bradley Cooper – Neil Walker
Rated – PG- 13
Run Time: 124 minutes
