JOY | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"JOY"
(2015) (Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Dramedy: While living and interacting with her extended, dysfunctional family, a woman tries to turn her mop invention into a success.

PLOT:

Joy Mangano (JENNIFER LAWRENCE) has always envisioned herself as an inventor, but life ultimately got in her way and she gave up on her dreams. She now works in a dead-end job as an airline counter clerk and is the mother to two kids. Her family life is a mess as well, what with her ex-husband, Tony (EDGAR RAMIREZ), living in the basement which he now shares with her father, Rudy (ROBERT DE NIRO), after his most recent girlfriend has returned him. He runs an auto garage and adjoining gun range with help from Joy's half-sister, Peggy (ELISABETH ROHM), but he clashes with Joy's mom, Terry (VIRGINIA MADSEN), upon his return home. Beyond her kids, the only person Joy can count on is her grandmother, Mimi (DIANE LADD), who's always supportive of her.

Joy's creative juices start flowing again once onboard a large sailboat owned by her father's new girlfriend, Trudy (ISABELLA ROSSELLINI). While mopping up wine and broken glasses from the deck, and cutting her hands, she envisions an easier to use mop and thus sets out to invent that. She gets nowhere with it until Tony takes her to see a friend of his who doesn't have time to see her, but hands her off to Neil Walker (BRADLEY COOPER). It turns out he runs QVC, and he's impressed enough by her moxie and later insistence that she sell her own product on air that he allows her to do just that, turning it into a runaway success.

From that point on, and with the help of her childhood best friend, Jackie (DASCHA POLANCO), as well as Tony and others, Joy tries to turn her Miracle Mop invention into a household name, but must contend with various business and interpersonal issues that threaten to derail her budding, newfound success.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Those who are fans of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper or others in the cast might want to see it, but it's unlikely many preteens will have any interest.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For brief strong language.

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