Joy

There is the genre of drama and that of comedy, then there's the combination of both as is nicknamed 'dramedy'. Sure, films that combine the two genres is not a new idea, but when they are combined in a way that a film could not survive without one of them, this is when you have a film like "Joy".

This is the wild true story of Joy Mantano (Jennifer Lawrence) and her Italian-American family comprised of Rudy (Robert DeNiro), her father, Terry (Virginia Madsen), her mother, Mimi (Diane Ladd), her grandmother, and Tony (Edgar Ramirez), her ex-husband, across four generations center on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty by inventing the Miracle Mop and becomes the matriarch in her own right. Betrayal, treachery, the loss of innocence and the scars of love, pave the road in this intense emotional and human dramedy about becoming a true boss of family and enterprise facing a world of unforgiving commerce. Allies become adversaries and adversaries become allies, both inside and outside the family, as Joy's inner life and fierce imagination carry her through the storm she faces. One silver lining in her quest to market her Miracle Mop is that of Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) who is the marketing manager of a TV station where she hopes to sell her product. This tells the story of family, loyalty and love all in a way that turns Joy's world upside down.

Others to round out the cast are Isabella Rossellini as Trudy, Rudy's girlfriend, Dascha Polanco as Jackie, a family friend, Elisabeth Rohm as Peggy, Rudy's daughter of his first marriage, Susan Lucci as Danica, Laura Wright as Clarinda, Maurice Benard as Ridge, Donna Mills as Priscilla, Jimmy Jean-Louis as Touissant, Ken Howard as Mop Executive and Ray De La Paz as Tony's Father.

This was written and directed by the incomparable David O. Russell ("Spanking the Monkey" '94, "Flirting with Disaster" '96, "Three Kings" '99, "I Heart Huckabees" '04, "The Fighter" '10, "Silver Linings Playbook" '12, "American Hustle" '13) based on a story by Annie Mumolo and Russell. This filmmaker is extremely talented in how to combine drama and comedy where it gives one a sense of escapism along with the conveyance of being real with plot and character development. And using a lot of the same actors in several of your films is actually smart thinking, especially if the actors work well with each other. The last time this concept was utilized, was when Christopher Guest directed his films, "Best in Show", "A Mighty Wind", "For Your Consideration", etc. These films were not dramedies--they were total comedies, but the usage of the same cast was incredibly effective. Mind you, the comedy in this, as with Russell's other last few films is very powder dry, but this makes for great comedy, because one has to actually think about the script a little more than just having a total pratfall, toilet humor driven comedy. Jennifer Lawrence simply shined in this as the title role and the film has garnered a Golden Globe nomination. Could she be seeing a possible Oscar? Only time will tell. She certainly deserves it.

If you're a Russell fan as I am, you'll be in film heaven, but even if it's not, well crafted films don't come along all that many times in one's life. My advice? Reach out and grab this brass ring, because if you don't, you'll miss out on a true gem.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                      Rated: PG-13                                       124mins.