‘Joy’ Review – Deadline
Deadline: Writer-director David O. Russell has a remarkable string of successes in the past five years, winning three Best Director and two Screenplay Oscar nominations for his most recent trio of films The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. All earned Oscar Best Picture nominations as well. His latest, Joy, is a slight departure, as it is the first time he has presented a woman at the center of one of his movies. It makes this film — the third collaboration between star Jennifer Lawrence and the director — not only a welcome respite from all the blood and guts male-oriented movies headed our way on Christmas Day but also an enormously effective story of female empowerment, family and success against all odds. In a time when it is most needed, the aptly titled Joy makes you feel good about life and its possibilities.
