Joy (2015 film)
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Joy is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film, written and directed by David O. Russell and starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, a self-made millionaire who created her own business empire.
Joy received a theatrical release on December 25, 2015, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Lawrence's performance but criticized the writing and pace of the film. Lawrence received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance. Joy was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, among other accolades.
Plot
In 1990, Joy Mangano, an airline booking agent residing in Peconic, New York, struggles financially while juggling a complicated family life. Living with Joy and her two children are her single mother, Terri, who spends all day in bed watching soap operas, her maternal grandmother, Mimi, and her under-employed ex-husband, Tony, a wannabe singer who sleeps in the basement. Her overachieving paternal half-sister, Peggy, constantly humiliates Joy in front of her children for her failed marriage. Joy's father, Rudy, further complicates matters when he also moves into the basement after his third divorce.
Mimi and Joy's best friend, Jackie, encourage Joy to pursue her inventing ambitions. Frustrated when using a conventional mop, Joy designs and builds an innovative self-wringing type. Trudy, a wealthy Italian widow Rudy is dating, agrees to invest in Joy's product. They contract with a California company to manufacture the mop's parts at a low price. To avoid a potential patent lawsuit, the company advises Joy to pay $50,000 in royalties to a man in Hong Kong who has a similar product. When the manufacturer repeatedly bills Joy to remake their faulty parts, Joy refuses to pay.
Joy meets QVC executive Neil Walker who agrees to sell her mops on TV. To manufacture 50,000 additional units, Joy takes out a second home mortgage. When the first TV attempt fails after the celebrity pitchman improperly demonstrates the product, Joy demands she be allowed to do a second infomercial. The mop sells out, earning thousands of dollars; Joy's success is soon tempered by Mimi's sudden death.
Joy's fledgling business is financially jeopardized after Peggy pays the manufacturer's excessive overcharges without Joy's approval. The manufacturer refuses to refund the money, and a contract loophole allows them to fraudulently patent Joy's mop design as their own. Shortly after filing for bankruptcy, Joy discovers there never was a similar product in Hong Kong, and the manufacturer has defrauded her. She confronts owner Derek Markham, forcing him to refund the overcharges, pay damages, and relinquish any claim to her patent or else face criminal charges.
Joy becomes a successful independent businesswoman who sponsors other inventors. Jackie and Tony are her most valued advisers. Joy supports her aging father, despite his and Peggy's unsuccessful lawsuit for ownership of her company. Only Terri is independent, having found stability with Toussaint, a Haitian plumber Joy once hired. As Neil predicted, he and Joy became "adversaries in commerce," with her move to HSN, but they remain personal friends.
