Joy

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.

Joy landed in mixed-review territory, with critics largely agreeing that Jennifer Lawrence's performance is the film's main asset but divided over whether David O. Russell's direction serves the material. Many felt his freewheeling, tonal approach — somewhere between family melodrama and myth-making — undercuts rather than elevates an inherently compelling true story.