While Jennifer Lawrence has helped lead Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games to megastardom, it is through films such as American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook that the actress has truly displayed her versatility. Leaving the relative safe haven of a marquee YA franchise for a more low-key drama may seem risky in theory, but in working with David O. Russell, Lawrence may have very well found her good luck charm.
And so, the actor-director pairing are set to reunite once again for Joy, a loose biopic that will have Lawrence assume the role of Joy Mangano, the famed mother-of-three-turned-entrepreneur who struck gold after inventing the Miracle Mop, along with a handful of other nifty domestic appliances. However, it isn’t long before Lawrence’s protagonist is left spinning too many plates, leaving her struggling to cope with family life and the increasing pressure of running her own business.
With a multi-faceted role at her disposal, the question now is: will Joy herald the second Oscar nomination (or indeed win?) for Jennifer Lawrence? Time will tell.
In cherry-picking cast members from his regular pool of reliable actors, O. Russell has assembled Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, Elisabeth Röhm and Bradley Cooper.
Arriving in the thick of the awards season, David O. Russell’s Joy opens in theatres on Christmas Day, 2015.
JOY is the wild story of a family across four generations centered on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a 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 comedy 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. Jennifer Lawrence stars, with Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, and Virginia Madsen. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, Joy defies genre to tell a story of family, loyalty, and love.
