Jennifer Lawrence tackles tough themes, headlines all-star cast in trailer for Joy

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Director David O. Russell has twice teamed with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. First, for Silver Linings Playbook, which won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture, and then for American Hustle, which won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy category.

On the heels of all that success, comes Joy, the third Russell-helmed film in three years to feature this trio of stars. Here’s a snippet of the official synopsis provided by Fox, the film’s distributor:

“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 …”

You can check out the trailer above, which looks looks a lot like Silver Linings Playbook but, well … snowier.

In addition to directing, Russell also co-wrote that film and did the same for American Hustle. Sticking to the formula, he helped pen this script too,  splitting duties with Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids).

Other than those above, we don’t have many details yet, but from what we can tell, it looks like an ambitious project that deals with some very broad and difficult themes: Family, loyalty, love, disillusionment, etc. Traditionally, that type of film is tough to pull off, but lest you have doubts about Joy, we’ve got your reassurance right here: Jennifer Lawrence.

At this point, her star is so blindingly bright that you could film her playing solitaire for two hours and have a massive hit on your hands. Come to think of it, we call dibs on that idea.

Set for a Christmas 2015 release, Fox is obviously positioning this as an Oscar contender. With limited info, it’s hard to say whether it can live up to that kind of advanced hype, but we wouldn’t bet against it. Not with our money, at least.