Critic Reviews for Joy on Moviebuff.com

David O. Russell’s 'Joy', is a rare Hollywood offering - a snark-free celebration of entrepreneurial capitalism

Kurt Loder, Reason

A loose, quirky, inventive character study about an inventor, a mixed bag rustled up by David O. Russel

Bill Wine, CBS Local

Russell's movie is not a 'Joy', forever, Happily, Lawrence is

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The movie is entertaining at times, ludicrous at times, and utterly disposable

Josh Lasser, IGN

The film offers us a rousing story of a self-made woman who overcomes every setback in her bid to launch her own business

Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent

David O Russell’s 'Joy', is an intriguing but weirdly subdued and stylised film

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

It's a bald and clumsy fairy tale about a good girl, some bad people, and a mop, even the mop's story deserved better

Tasha Robinson, The Verge

'Joy', is enjoyable, particularly if you buy into Russell’s brand of erratic, homespun dysfunction, carried on the broad shoulders of his favorite leading lady

Sean O'Connell, Cinema Blend

If 'Joy', has ruled out amorous prospects, it would be good to know more about her attitude

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

It may boast a star-studded cast, but 'Joy', thrives mainly because of Lawrence's performance

Joanne Soh, The New Paper

Equilibrium makes Russell a dull boy

David Edelstein, Vulture

It's a whole lot better than one might expect, and loaded with talent unabashedly hawking their wares

Eric Kohn, Indiewire

'Joy', takes us through a ride into the telemarketing world, but it takes its own sweet time indulging with some quirky characters before coming to the cathartic central point

PipingHotViews Source , PipingHotViews

'Joy', is as much a movie about the actress standing her ground in the Hollywood system that regards women as second-class as it is a look at a female entrepreneur taking on the world

Jason Guerrasio, Business Insider India

Anchoring Russell’s sincerely felt tribute to the power of a woman’s resolve in a man’s world, it’s hard not to wish 'Joy', were better

Justin Chang, Variety

Heartbreaking, uplifting, liberating...'Joy', makes you instill faith in your abilities once again

Renuka Vyavahare, The Times of India

It’s a feel-good family movie, brightened by great performances from the cast

Kathryn Whitney Boole, Santa Monica Daily Press

Lawrence remains a sympathetic focus throughout, and 'Joy', never completely loses its way, but it almost does, and it never quite arrives

Mick LaSalle, SFGate

Despite the convoluted family dynamics and less-than-successful use of the show-within-a-show trope, Lawrence makes 'Joy', easy to believe and easy to root for

Sandy Cohen, Yahoo News

Much like Steve Jobs, 'Joy', is a fictionalized and unconventional biopic.

Matthew Goudreau, The Young Folks

Russell’s clearly tried to make something other than the usual Hollywood biopic and by embracing the soapy aspects of it and emphasizing the artificial he’s made a unique film

Chris Bumbray, JoBlo.com

'Joy', is a misfire, no questions asked, a crushing bore of a film from a director who has shown he’s capable of so much more

Rajeev Masand, Rajeev Masand

Two words: Jennifer Lawrence, though the actress has a series of accolades under her belt, she delivers her finest performance (yet) in Joy

Juhi Matta, BookMyShow

Hold your breath; the talented and delightfully ubiquitous Jennifer Lawrence is back

JP Devine, Central Maine

In a time when it is most needed, the aptly titled 'Joy', makes you feel good about life and its possibilities

Pete Hammond, Deadline

'Joy', is a surprisingly engrossing tribute to the inventive minds who have created so many of the conveniences we take for a granted

News Ok Source, News Ok

Things might be untidy around her, but she is the real Joy to behold here

Brian Truitt, USA Today

'Joy', is pretty ridiculous, and there are long sections of it that don’t work, it’s obviously a star vehicle for Lawrence, but if anyone deserves a vehicle, she does

Sheila O'Malley, Roger Ebert

'Joy', is an example of how star power does not make a film

Carole Mallory, The Huffington Post

It’s a bootstrap-capitalist fable, a tale of adversity overcome and rags exchanged for riches, a case study in success suitable for a self-improvement seminar

AO Scott, The New York Times

We walk away unmoved by Joy's story, her family, or her mop, but through it all Lawrence remains

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

It’s a rags-to-riches story and Lawrence is the only positive aspect throughout the entire film

Movie Pilot Source, Moviepilot.com

A film about dormant potential, that seems almost poetically apt, though ultimately unsatisfying

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club

'Joy', is a mess from start to finish; a movie that starts out reasonably entertaining, peaks in the middle with the actual selling of the mop, and then comes tumbling down like London Bridge

Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth

Mostly it’s a slog, offering few surprises and doing little to live up to its title or aspirations

Joshua Starnes, ComingSoon.net

'Joy', is at its annoying worst when it’s clamoring to be antic, and at its brilliantly funny best when Joy and her adversaries are deadly serious about business as mortal combat

Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

Russell and Lawrence have invented, and will invent, better cinematic products

Drew Wheeler, flagpole

Russell is too deliberate a filmmaker for this to be accidental, and this cast is too smart and too good for them not to be giving him exactly what he wants

FlickFilosopher Source, FlickFilosopher.com

David O Russell did a good job in instilling faith in your abilities with “Joy”

Sajid, Cinema Glitz

It’s a shame to see such a promising filmmaker in rapid decline

Matt Goldberg, Collider