Chances are if you’ve mopped a floor, you’ve used a Miracle Mop. 300 feet of cotton strung into a continuous loop that can be pulled taught, twisted and wrung dry without getting your hands wet. It is the closest thing to a miracle that I’ve beheld in my short life and it has saved countless hardworking American backs from undue strain in the twenty-plus years since its invention. But what is the story behind the creation of this domestic marvel? Or better yet, why should anyone care? Apparently, with his upcoming biopic Joy, director David O. Russell has the answer.
Yes, the director of Three Kings and American Hustle has gone from wartime adventure flicks, to boxing dramas, to crime-capers, and now, to a biopic about the inventor of a mop. Slated to star recurring collaborator Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano — the Long Island single mother who built a Home Shopping Network empire with her clever household doodads — the production has just announced the addition of Remezcla’s unofficial fiancé, Dascha Polanco of Orange is the New Black fame, as Joy’s loyal BFF and business partner, Jackie. But the party doesn’t stop there. In addition to Lawrence, it seems Polanco will be in the company of a celestial being known to mortals as Robert De Niro, as well as that other David O. Russell fave, Bradley Cooper.
By the looks of things, Joy is packing a whole lot of firepower for a rags-to-riches tale involving a mop, and we have to admit, it seems like an unlikely subject matter for a director who has tended toward more dramatically rich material. At first look I wouldn’t even expect this one to get the greenlight from the Hallmark Channel, let alone a multimillion dollar Hollywood development deal. But perhaps that’s all the more reason to be excited about Joy (that is, other than the fact that Dascha Polanco’s in it), as chances are Russell has an ace up his sleeve that’s going to take Joy to places we’d never expect.
As for Polanco, homegirl’s tearing it up. Her upcoming feature, The Cobbler, stars Adam Sandler and premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, while Orange is the New Black is cruising into its third season, riding high on critical praise. Looks like the reign of the blonde, blue-eyed “girl next door” type has come to a resounding end. At least for East Coast folks, chances are your neighbor’s Dominican anyway.
