20 Essential Movie Performances That Will Define 2015

8. Jennifer Lawrence - Joy Mangano (Joy)

Release Date: December 25 (US), January 1, 2016 (UK) The Movie: David O. Russell writes and directs this comic drama about a single mother who invented the Miracle Mop and turned her life around overnight. The Role: Lawrence plays the woman in question, Joy Mangano, a real-life figure who went from being dirt poor to eventually pulling in $10 million a year from her brainchild idea. Needless to say, given Lawrence's amusingly blowsy work on American Hustle, it seems like she'll be a fine fit for an unmistakably similar character here. Why It'll Define 2015: Nobody really expected a movie to get made about the woman who invented the Miracle Mop, but if Russell nails a solid blend of humour and pathos, it could easily be one of the year's best. Lawrence is killing it right now, and there's a strong chance she'll end up in Oscar contention for the fourth time in five years for her work here. Her reputation as "this generation's Meryl Streep" will continue to be solidified.