Movie Review: Felt So Joyful After Watching Joy!

There is a scene in the movie 'Joy' which I'm sure many stressed and harassed Pinoys can relate to.

After Joy, played by Jennifer Lawrence, learns that she has to take a second mortgage on her house to raise US250,000, she goes out of her Dad's office, into their firing range, and politely asks a patron, if she could do a few rounds on his rifle.

And she fires away! And the audience can sense the relief she feels after each shot she makes.

I want to do that to, some days, just to release some steam!

I came to love David O. Russell's work after watching 'The Fighter'. I hate movies about boxing but after watching his movie, I was left in tears, caring for the characters in the story, who where working class Americans on the other side of the fence.

As my brother said, that's how the real America looks like - not the glossy, shiny people you see in MTV videos. That's how ugly they really are he said, LOL! I don't think he meant ugly, I think he meant, realistic.

However, in 'Joy', in a similar cast Russell has worked with in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Jennifer Lawrence, once again, grabs the character by the neck and plays it with such gusto and vibrancy, I wanted to be her - to have that positive attitude and gung-ho spirit, despite all the odds stacked in my favor.

Especially if those odds are cause by your own family members!

I guess that's the chord that really struck me in the movie.

I started business at 18 and always, my nemesis would be Mama and then my lola, and other family members, always wanting a piece of the pie. I was just lucky I had Vic by my side and I guess together, we made things happen.

So I could really relate to Joy's predicaments and how she carefully balances her family relations, and making her dreams come true. There is no fierce adversary than your own family members.

Other s***heads who are not family, I can deal with easily, and I don't give a damn about them, but when family members are causing you the pain, hay Diyos ko, tulungan mo ako!

The movie goes through a roller coaster ride of emotions that's why I was crying quietly for joy for Joy in the end. I was so happy for her.

And I understood where all her magnanimity comes from.

It's a pity I am teaching now and not in the world of business.

This movie is so inspiring for anyone who wants to start a business.