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Joy Ride
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Steve Zahn, Paul
Walker, Leelee Sobieski |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
20th
Century Fox |
| Web Site: |
www.joyridemovie.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Leave them at
home. |
| Date Movie: |
She might get
scared and snuggle, but mostly she'll probably just laugh. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Leelee keeps her
clothes on. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Mostly it's all
suspense or cars getting bashed. |
| Action: |
Nah. |
| Laughs: |
Quite a few
although they probably aren't supposed to be. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
It could have been
where Venna was tied to a chair in the motel room, but since
they blew that one, well, none. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
None. |
| Directed By: |
John Dahl. |
| Produced By: |
J.J. Abrams, Chris
Moore |
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Joy Ride
A Movie Review |
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Alright, if you hate a movie being spoiled a little
and you like a generic "crazy person goes after kids who are
stupid" movie, go and see "Joy Ride." It’s okay,
nothing special, and gives you the same dumb people in a horror
movie that we have now become desensitized with that we laugh at
them instead of get frightened. Stop reading now and head to the
theater. Otherwise, don’t blame me for giving away a few things.
First off, I so wanted the hotel door to open and Venna (Leelee
Sobieski) to get her head blown off. Not that I’m one for
gratuitous violence, alright, I like it in a movie every now and
then, but if you want to change the horror-movie genre, the writers
and directors are going to have to change the rules and let all of
the stupid kids die. Secondly, Fuller (Steve Zahn) should have
gotten plowed into by the truck while he hung on the fence. And
third, Lewis (Paul Walker) should have gotten killed by the cops
when he ran. That’s how I would have ended "Joy Ride,"
and obviously the things I would have liked didn’t happen.
Here we go…
So you’ve got Lewis. He gets the call from Venna that she
dumped her boyfriend and wishes she could take a long ride in a car
back home so she can decompress. Lewis, being the sappy dude and
wanting to get in Venna’s pants, somehow has a refundable airline
ticket (who has one of these nowadays?), cashes in the ticket and
gets a car. A detour ensues while he bails his brother, Fuller, out
of jail, and looking to kill some time, Fuller has a CB installed.
Thinking it would be fun, Fuller convinces Lewis to pretend he is a
chick called "Candy Cane" on the CB, talking to another CB
dude who has the nickname "Rusty Nail." Well, you’ve
seen the previews – Candy Cane tells Rusty Nail to meet
"her" in a motel room, Rusty Nail shows up but it’s not
a chick but a dude in the room, Rusty tears the dude’s jaw off,
and our boys are scared.
Blah, blah, blah, Rusty Nail scares the piss out of Lewis and
Fuller then disappears, Lewis and Fuller get Venna, Fuller tries to
get in Venna’s pants, and Rusty tracks our idiots down and gets
them to do all kind of wacky stunts because Rusty has now kidnapped
Venna’s best friend.
Where does this movie go wrong? Well, at least for me, most
horror movies have become comedies because you just laugh at how
stupid these people are. How come none of our heroes have a cell
phone? How did Venna get out of all of that tape? What kind of
person chases down, in his ice truck, two kids hauling ass away from
him, down a dirt road, only to give them their credit card they left
at the mini-mart? And why can’t the bad guy ever die (oh, yea –
sequel).
"Joy Ride" is just another one of those cookie-cutter
horror films, although it is missing the obligatory nudity (Leelee
did seem pretty chilly during most of the filming, though). You get
some suspense, but mostly you’ll laugh because, well, horror
movies just seem to be filled with stupid people. It's main
lesson - Don't fuck with truckers.
If you like the generic horror movie genre, well, you’ll
probably enjoy "Joy Ride." If you’re looking for
something different, this isn’t it. I give "Joy Ride" 2
½ stars out of 5. Catch a matinee.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
