Jennifer Lawrence a Joy to watch as real-life firecracker

DAVID O Russell must have a thing for underdogs (and Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper, but more on that later); he can't seem to stop making films about them.

From The Fighter (2010) to Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and American Hustle (2013), he's turned everyday folks into heroes on the big screen and won acclaim for it.

The director-writer-producer has done the same in Joy, a dark comedy that also doubles as a biopic of Joy Mangano. The latter is a single mum who became a self-made millionaire after inventing the world's first self-wringing mop.