Joy

This eluded me when it came out in 2015. The ad campaign made it look like David O Russell’s sub-par sequel to Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper AGAIN?? Reviews were bad, even though JLAW got another Oscar nomination. I never knew what it was about, other than another bickering family. But suddenly this appears on the airplane menu, and this was GOOD. The reductive premise is it’s a biopic about a woman who invents a mop. But the obstacles she faces, especially from her own family, make this interesting and turmoil-filled. Despite melodramatic diversions (there’s a “soap-opera” refrain throughout), I found myself fully invested, pulling for the hero, and appreciating the happy ending.