Talentville Coverage for JOY

JOY is difficult to get behind for a couple of reasons. Many consider movies about movies to be too insidery. While that's a sentiment I don't agree with (see THE PLAYER), they do need to walk a fine line between verisimilitude and widespread appeal. Unfortunately, JOY doesn't walk that line because it's neither truthful nor universal enough to pull in an audience.

Much of this comes down to the characters, but the sagging structure and lack of propulsion also play a big part. Small dramas need an interesting hook to pull in audiences. JOY doesn't have one. Even for an independent film, that's simply not enough to put butts in seats. While there is some snappy dialogue, it doesn't have fuel behind it.