A new trailer for Joy, David O. Russell's latest starring Jennifer Lawrence, has come online.  Lawrence stars in a multi-generational story that follows a young woman who grows a business dynasty, but what you'll mostly get from this trailer is that Lawrence is ACTING.  I like Lawrence a lot, and this seems like a movie designed to showcase her talent above all else.  That's fine for a character piece, but Russell's lost the hard-edged spirit to his work, and this trailer feels like he's putting on heirs.  He wants to convince us he'll still "reach for the gun" when the audience-friendly Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle say otherwise.   I'm still waiting to see if one of the director's movies will have some substance again, and not just coast on the performances.

Due in theaters on December 25th, Joy also stars Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, Elisabeth Röhm, and Bradley Cooper.

Check out the new trailer for Joy below (via 20th Century Fox):

Here’s the official synopsis for Joy:

JOY is the wild story of a family across four generations centered on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a matriarch in her own right. Betrayal, treachery, the loss of innocence and the scars of love, pave the road in this intense emotional and human comedy about becoming a true boss of family and enterprise facing a world of unforgiving commerce. Allies become adversaries and adversaries become allies, both inside and outside the family, as Joy’s inner life and fierce imagination carry her through the storm she faces. Jennifer Lawrence stars, with Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, and Virginia Madsen. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, Joy defies genre to tell a story of family, loyalty, and love.