Joyride

Tobey Maguire had to start somewhere before becoming Spiderman. His acting is quite good even if his aimless and clueless character makes no sense. Here's the plot: a motel owner's son hooks up with a hooker tenant, hangs out with his gay buddy (who seems to have a crush on him) and steals a car from an icy villainess assassin. Then a lot of other plot points occur that have nothing to do with each other. The first half is OK but then quickly disintegrates into this tangled non-sensical mess. Wilson Cruz does his best as Tobey's gay friend but his acting is too good for the amateurish script. Adam West as a father who pimps his daughter is an interesting stunt cast but who cares by the end. I bought the DVD for five bucks and paid about $4.79 too much.

I watched this movie because it starred Tobey Maguire. I read some comments and a review or two beforehand and as a consequence I expected it to be dire. However it wasn't, though it wasn't particularly good either. The performances were average, except for Benicio del Toro who was awful. The script definitely needed some work - there were a lot of loose ends dangling around that could have been tied together. Tobey Maguire is the lead actor, but towards the end of the film it seemed that his role tapered off in relevance to the story.The direction was flashy in a pointless sort of way. There were hardly any close ups used. I would recommend this film only really for die-hard Tobey Maguire fans as it is interesting to see him in a early role, before he got to work with first class directors of the likes of Ang Lee, Lasse Hallstrum and Woody Allen who he has obviously learned a llot from,since his performance in this film is a million miles away from his work in Spider-Man or Pleasantville or any of the other excellent films he has done in recent years.

I really CANNOT BELIEVE the amount of negativity being directed at this movie! I really enjoyed it! Amy Hathaway is HOT and fun to watch. She sort of reminds me of Alicia Silverstone in Excess Baggage. I was transfixed watching Toby Mcguire and Benicio Del Toro, as I have been fans of both of theirs for years.. The movie actually has quite a bit of tension and suspense, and it works, because you really feel for these kids, and the situation they are stuck in. Sure, there are some definite continuity errors, and the acting is far from perfect, at times, but somehow these don't detract from the storyline and the overall feel of the movie. I watched half of the movie last night, and was hooked enough to come back and finish it,today. A strong 5, but maybe even a 6, in my book. Definitely worth a look, if you're into these types of movies.

I found this movie very disturbing in the fact that the acting was horrendous. Never have seen films where director and writer are the same. Except for a few, it never works. Story line was a bit twisted and in many cases just plain boring. Casting of lead characters were not to my liking. I wonder if Tobey Maguire regrets that this film is in distribution having such later hits as SPIDER MAN and CIDER HOUSE BLUES. Too bad. It's a wonder that he got cast in another film after this one, but lucky for us he did. He's a good young actor, although directed in this movie to go around with his mouth open wondering what is going on around him.

Meanwhile we have Amy Hathaway, a terrible actress, walking around beating up people, namely men. They seem to just stand around and let her do this. Are they paralyzed? The scene with Adam West [Batman] just letting this bimbo push him around was a joke. She certainly wasn't a looker and in this viewer's opinion, not worth the price of admission. The same thing goes with the other bimbo, played by Christina Naify, who streaks her face with mascara and lipstick, looking like a clown from a freak circus and supposedly is attractive to the male community in the film. Guys, open your eyes, these broads are not that enticing.

So, I give the film a 1 on the fact that someone had to pay to have it made. I feel sorry for that person.

The only reason to watch this movie is to see just how awful it is and how far Tobey Maguire and Benico Del Toro have come as actors. The script and dialoge are awful, and appear to be written by high school level talent. The premise is absurd and loaded with ridiculous sub plots to further waste viewers time. In short, three just out of high school kids tango with death so they can keep a car. Adam West is good for a laugh as some sort of pimp/daddy business man. If you're a collector of some sort and want this film, the good news is you should be able to get it for about three bucks at any Target or WalMart style store. However, I certainly don't bother messing with this one.