Yes No Maybe So: Nobody Owes "Joy" Anything...
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:30PM It's been amusing for months now to see Oscar pundits fall all over themselves declaring Joy and Jennifer Lawrence frontrunners sight unseen. Unbroken anyone? It's never smart to declare frontrunners sight unseen. But now that we're finally getting more of a peak at the actual movie -- though it's still anyone's guess as to the final quality and perceptions thereof -- It does have the making of an entertaining 2 hours at the movies. So bring Christmas on. Deck the halls. Etcetera.
The new trailer beautifully sequelizes the conceit of the teaser, in which Joy's grandmother (I think) lectured to her. Now Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is the one imparting wisdom... to her daughter. Of the every-man-for-himself cynical variety but still. Yes No Maybe so breakdown after the jump...
I want you to remember something...Don't ever think that the world owes you anything because it doesn't. The world doesn't owe you a thing."
YES
• The succcession of women speaking to their daughters outlined above shows that the marketing team has a really firm handle on this one, even if they're playing (as per complaints I've read elsewhere) vague about the plot. This is A-OK with The Film Experience because by and large trailers should sell mood, premise and character and ignore plot. That way they stay away from spoilers.
• Whatever you think of David O. Russell's films (I love them with the strange exception of Silver Linings Playbook, which is the most popular, natch') one thing is for certain: his films are always chalk full of lively characterizations... playgrounds for actors essentially. For fans of screen acting or even ACTING that means yummy treats every time.
• Yay, makeover scene!
• Jennifer looks as entertaining as ever. Russell was smart to pair her romantically with an actor as formidable if relatively unfamous as Edgar Ramirez because he isn't likely the sort that will let her rest on her gargantuan screen presence or take over the scenes. (Which is also why she's so good with Bradley Cooper and why the Hunger Games boys all sort of blur together because they can't compete) Plus his bangs in that wedding dance scene. ♥
• Elizabeth Röhm getting what looks like a bigger part than she had in American Hustle. Yes please. Has earned it.
YES (MA'AM, PAM)
You are in a room and there is a gun on the table. The only other person in the room is an adversary in commerce. Only one of you can prevail. Do you pick up the gun Joy?
It's all kinds of thrilling that both teasers have used women's voices and faces to sell the story, themes, wisdom... even with male stars as big as Cooper and de Niro hangin' round the frame. And that the trailer's climax is Isabella Rossellini challenging Joy with a possibly-not-so-hypothetical situation is an electric actressy charge. Can we have a moment to bask in Rossellini's inimitable voice? Bless her for never losing that polyglot child-of-international-fabulous-legends accent.
NO
• Dear David, we already know you're wildly obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence but if this entire film plays like a gif reel homage to her fierceness and fabulosity it's going to absolutely wear out its welcome at feature length even if it looks great in gif and trailer form. Also please stop casting her as 40 year-olds. She'll be 40 soon enough and then what will she do for an encore? Let her be 20somethings while she still is. xoxo, Nathaniel
• Will this film be an ode to capitalism with a sidebar gun fetish? Let's hope not.
MAYBE SO
• Joy looks enticing in trailer and teaser form... but will it be unwieldly as a story? Family dramedy, romantic drama, business thriller, child-rearing drama, and Ode to Jennifer Lawrence all in one?
Good luck to everyone involved since we'll be there with bells on at Christmas time eager to open this prezzie. In short, total "Yes". How about you? And what do you make of its Oscar chances after seeing this trailer? It's hard to know about the actors, right? There's not going to be room for ALL six of the supporting players (de Niro, Ramirez, Cooper, Röhm, Ladd, Rossellini) after all.
Reader Comments (39)
Big "Yes" to the movie. Big old "No" to Isabella Rossellini not getting name-checked in the trailer. How will the children ever learn their history if we stop trying to teach them?
She looks like a babysitter than a 40 year old mom.
Nat: "Will this be an ode to capitalism with a sidebar gun fetish." Probably not. The character being focused on might love capitalism and guns but the aesthetic seems too bleak and cold for anyone to assume the film sides with the central character at all.
I'm heartily with you on every yes, no, and maybe so. I want it to be great! We'll see how it comes together.
I'm a YES because of who's involved but the trailer didn't do much for me. Not a bad trailer, just not an involving one either (except the last bit, which worked). Hoping this works out.
Well, of all the supporting players listed, I'd be on board with Academy Award Nominee Isabella Rossellini the most - I didn't even know that she was in this film!?
Am I the only one that thinks La Lawrence is misscast in all of her David O. Russell movies? To me, this looks like another misscast role. I'm on the maybe so.
OMG YES.
Russell was a liberal activist in his youth (I think he was a union organizer at one point), so I'm with Volvagia about the film not being an ode to capitalism and guns.
I had trouble figuring out whether Bradley Cooper and Edgar Ramirez were playing the same character in different time points.
I am not a smart man.
My only problem with this movie is the same one I've had with previous Russell/Lawrence collaborations: she seems too young for the part. Lawrence is such a charismatic performer (if still not fully polished) that it's been fun to see her stretch her legs in SLP and AH, and now this. But I still didn't buy her as a widow in Silver Linings Playbook. Plus, the character of Joy seems to be of a woman that's not only lived long enough to inherit wisdom from multiple generations of women, but also one that's lived long enough to realize and learn to use that wisdom to her benefit (in this case, start her own business, and in such a relentless way). Lawrence can definitely sell relentlessness, but can she sell entrepreneurship, wisdom (not just smarts), and motherhood? What's more, can she connect those dots? I hope she can, but...doesn't seem like it from the trailer.
Her glamour and youth feels hopelessly mismatched and distracting for stories of seemingly ordinary, middle-aged middle-class women. She does a fine job in these, but can you imagine what a magnificent and truly felt performances they would be in the hands of age-appropriate actresses?
Echo all the age comments. As much as I usually enjoy her, it really takes me out of the film.
I like Jennifer Lawrence's age-inappropriate performances in Russell films, but I still agree, caroline. I wish he'd bring Melissa Leo back. She would have been fun in any of the two Lawrence/Russell collabs we've seen. I'm imagining Leo as Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle and I think it would have been fascinating.
YES. Isabella Rossellini. That's all.
As far as its Oscar chances, I think it has a great chance to go all the way for Russell this time. He's been nominated for 5 Oscars in the past 5 years. And this is exactly the type of year (with no clear frontrunner yet) where a December release like this one can jump ahead.
On the age discussion, I'll wait to see the film to make a more informed decision. But the film is set in the 70s or 80s, right? So it's not inconceivable for a woman to have been married and have 2 or 3 children in her mid to late twenties (where does it say she's 40?!). And motherhood definitely helps to mature and toughen you up. Especially, if you have to work and struggle through it. This film, according to the official plot synopsis, also spans more than a decade, so it's possible JLaw plays a role that is at once younger than she is, then her own age, then older than she is. Therefore I think that the age issue was more legitimate with regards to her roles in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle than it is here.
Unless the film is scornfully derided among critics, and I mean Stonewall-level derision, I am almost 100% positive that Jen will be nominated, and has a good shot at winning too. Sight unseen but come on; she is hot hot hot at the moment and it just makes perfect sense to reward her Erin Brockovich. I just hope the film/her are worthy of their eminent praise and is closer to Brockovich than Silver Linings.
I get interested in this trailer the moment Isabella Rossellini shows up and talks - but I'm not sure it's enough to get me to see this. I'm in the Maybe zone.
Renton -- from what i can gather the real Joy Mangano didn't invent the miracle mop until 12-13 years after graduating from college. So that puts her in her late 30s so if the story is really about her business that would put her at late 30s / early 40s for the bulk of the movie.
maybe it's just creative license but it still is so annoying. I like jennifer lawrence a lot but there are plenty of parts for a girl of 25 that require youth.
I'm with Renton. She's actually playing younger than her age and around her actual age for much of this movie, if plot synopses have been true. And she looks great in the trailer, definitely unlike any of her other performances. She doesn't look to be going for BIG ACTING but it seems she still didn't lose her gargantuan screen charisma.
I'm gaga for Lawrence.
I love this kind of charismatic juggernauts actresses, like her, Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe - even if they are not the most skilled performers.
Of course I adore technically precise actors like Cate Blanchett, but I miss this giant star types.
Today it's way easier to find a perfect actor (let's say, like Carey Mulligan) than these titanic movie stars.
Cal Roth - Amen!
And I think Cate has been balancing both beautifully recently.
"...maybe it's just creative license but it still is so annoying. I like jennifer lawrence a lot but there are plenty of parts for a girl of 25 that require youth..."
Right on, Nat.
Big yes. Wasn't really a Hustle fan, but this looks great to me.
Her recent outburst might turn off some voters & cost her a nom. The biggest earning actress in Hollywood whining that she was not paid enough. If that article came from a lesser known actress, it might have sound more reasonable and poignant.
Sure she was brave & courageous in making a stand for fellow actresses. But most of the power-to-be are male and conservative minded executives type who dun like their authority challenged. If Joy's reviews are any less than stellar than SLP or AH, U can be sure they will totally drop her like a hot potato. Anyway it alr a crowded field in the actress race. They are spoiled for choice!
Glad to see you cheerleading for Elizabeth Rohm. I thought she and Jeremy Renner were best in show in "American Hustle".
So this woman invented the Miracle Mop, right? Where are the mops? Where are the shots of mopping? It sounds silly but I'm being serious. Why does this movie about an inventor look so disinterested in the swag she invented? What director would so IRRATIONALLY omit sudsy visuals but David O. Russell?
It's like there are 100 expressions of domesticity in this trailer and none (that stood out to me) use her entrepreneurial triumph as a symbol. Would that be too facile? Maybe.
This looks excellent to me. I hope the film works, it is exciting to see Russell telling a female-centred story.
Incidentally, I don't think any issue arises here about Lawrence being cast in an age - inappropriate role. She's playing a fictional character inspired by but not directly based on Joy Mangano's life (it's not a biopic, as Fox apparently have made clear in the publicity material), and from the trailer it seems she has kids soon after leaving school and then ages ten or so years - meaning 25-year old Lawrence is playing between 18-30, which seems wholly reasonable to me.
Yes, she's probably too young for this but the film does seem to span decades in her life so do you cast a 40-something year old actress who can pass as a 25-year-old or a 20-something actress and age her throughout with hair and makeup? Sissy Spacek played Loretts Lynn from 14 years old to an established 40-ish superstar in Coal Miner's Daughter and did it all convincingly so I am hopeful Lawrence can pull off this feat as well.
And YES TO ISABELLA ROSSELINI! Wouldn't it be great if this role was juicy enough for a supporting actress nomination? We can dream.
And Edgar Ramirez is perhaps the sexiest man alive. Yum. He was extraordinary in Carlos so hopefully this film will be a big Hollywood break for him.
Based on those pictures, it looks like her character in Winter's Bone got transported to Silver Linings Playbook.
Yes because I believe in David O., but I'm nervous. I want this to be JLaw's Norma Rae, but I'm going to need to see more from the character than just angry and determined.
"So it's not inconceivable for a woman to have been married and have 2 or 3 children in her mid to late twenties" - right... but for me, Lawrence is never believable when she plays a mother. She seems like a big sister babysitting rather than a mom.
Ever since someone suggested Drew Barrymore play JLaw's role in American Hustle, that's all I can think of... so perfect. So now I'm picturing her in this too. lol
I can't say I've liked either trailer, which act like they're telling a story without telling it. I don't like trailers giving away the story at all, but these have seemed like they're confused.
and I don't care. I'm a YES based on cast and director, and the fact that it appears to pass the Bechdel test with FLYING MOTHERFUCKING COLORS is a bonus.
To answer a few questions:
1) Edgar Ramirez and Bradley Cooper aren't playing the same character. Ramirez plays her husband, and Cooper plays an employee of a QVC/HSN-type network.
2) The title character ages over the course of the film from childhood to around 40. It's not as if the whole film takes place while the character is 40. David O. Russell had to choose between casting a 20-something actress and making her look older in the later scenes, and choosing an 30-40-something actress and making her look younger in the early scenes.
3) Based on what sources have said, the movie doesn't deal much with the Miracle Mop. I don't think the script uses the words "Miracle Mop" at all. It started out as a biopic specifically about Joy Mangano, but with rewrites it became loosely based on her life.
Not for nothing, but as much as the Jennifer-Lawrence-is-too-young-for-this has bothered me SO MUCH, this is actually looking pretty exciting... The movie looks a total, unwieldy MESS, but those few moments where J-Law is laying down the law... It's incredibly technical, and believable. There's a deep, deep soul living in those moments. The biggest complaint I've had about her aged-up performances is that she's doing SO MUCH to be someone older than herself, almost flailing her way through certain scenes. The fact that control and resistance is so clearly part of this early glimpse of the performance is very fascinating.
This looks boring "Big Eyes" vibes to me. I expect Brie Larson or Saoirse Ronan win the Best Actress Oscar because we deserve new actresses winning with much better work.
Sissy Spacek played Loretts Lynn from 14 years old to an established 40-ish superstar in Coal Miner's Daughter and did it all convincingly...
Because Sissy Spacek.
David O Russell should make a movie about an older woman starring an older woman. I elect Annette Bening because Isabella Rossellini resembles what I can only imagine Annette looking like in a few years. It could be her ticket to the elusive Best Actress Oscar she wants and deserves.
It's the supporting cast that is making me want to see this. O. Russell is on my shitlist, but he does know how to get amazing actors for his projects. Rohm needs to be in 10 times as many films as she's getting.
I'm a huge YES, have been since the teaser dropped.
I'm so bored by the age complaints, it's never really bothered me because I've always found Lawrence compelling (with the exception of Serena).
Guys, you buried the lead: Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids) wrote and produced this. I'm a yes for that alone.