A little bit of that magic spread somewhere on Joy's set, since its maestros successfully manage to sell you on a film that's ostensibly about the creation of a cleaning product...

| Nov 14, 2023

Equal to the scattered mess of personalities within this central family, the film itself doesn't know what it wants to be and that's a large flaw.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2023

There's much to admire about Joy, beginning with another helluva performance by Lawrence.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 23, 2022

Joy as a film is as much of a mess as the one being mopped up but Jennifer Lawrence does a great job of keeping the audience rooting for Joy all the way...

| Sep 13, 2021

Lawrence does the best with what she is given, and her penultimate scene shows a good deal of strength and power, but Russell's messy movie ultimately lets her down.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 15, 2021

Why is Russell perpetuating fantasies in Joy as harmful as those about winning the lottery or inheriting wealth from "some unknown relative"?

| Feb 12, 2021

Joy pursues a number of ill-fitting narrative detours that detract from the fascinating story that should be at the core of the movie. While I was rooting for the film-and for Joy herself - ultimately it felt like the film missed a key opportunity.

| Feb 9, 2021

A success story whose fast-paced joyfulness in performance and pacing makes up for the bumpy execution.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 3, 2021

Joy is a mess, sometimes intentionally so and oftentimes not.

| Jan 7, 2021

Hiccups in style and pacing can't bring down this strong female lead, brought to stimulating life by Lawrence's easygoing, levelheaded acting.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 4, 2020

Despite being a tad too young for the role and I'd dare say even potentially miscast, Lawrence completely owns this performance.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 13, 2020

Director David O. Russell doesn't balance the story of this domestic heroine and loses pace when he tells it. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jun 26, 2020

The screenplay, which was also written by Russell, collapses into a jumbled mess under the weight of flashbacks and failed structural experiments.

| Jan 13, 2020

Filled with heart and humor, grit and determination, and entertaining performances, all thrown together in the cinematic wash with a sudsy spin, Joy is the perfect uplifting inspiration...

| Nov 5, 2019

This may not be a great movie, but it is an inspiring story. Joy may not mop up at the box office, but when it comes to acting, it's a clean sweep.

| Oct 24, 2019

This optimistic, often amusing story is a Lawrence show all the way as she flies the flag for feminism, entrepreneurship and family without missing a beat.

| Aug 15, 2019

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Joy is a rather simple and entertaining film, a biopic of sorts that works best when seen as a strange, unique and slightly true success story.

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 24, 2019

A film with all the right parts assembled in a slightly jumbled configuration.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 9, 2019

It's a banana flambé with extra rum that brazenly throws together folksy storytelling, arch soap opera melodrama and a typically eccentric cast into a golden Hollywood crack at the American Dream.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 8, 2019

The path the film leads isn't as clear as it needs to be and doesn't make for a phenomenal narrative. Boasted by good performances, but ultimately lacking in a properly developed story.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 5, 2019