David O. Russell

Doggedly obvious melodrama...But what makes the clichés palatable is a communal commitment to getting the story right.

There's a self-aware feel to the period pageantry, the alternatingly seductive and kinetic cinematography, and the actor's showcase this ramshackle contraption has been held together with spit and bailing wire to be.

Though everything around this resilient central figure is wan sitcom, 'Joy the Doer' provides a rooting interest potent enough to justify the film.