Joy Ride

Joy Ride has become a hilarious film, but occasionally crosses a line that is not really necessary. It ensures that the film is pure underpants fun, with the further course following the standard pattern that we have seen so much in these types of films. Still, the film definitely guarantees a fun evening and you will occasionally burst out laughing. The nicest figure in the film remains Deadeye, Lolo's niece who is crazy about K-Pop groups and is secretly in love with Audrey, but does not dare to come out publicly. There is a perfect pace in the film, the humor is largely genuinely funny and fun and the story itself can get on with it. This is perhaps the nicest banal comedy we've seen since The Hangover movies in this genre.

I was cackling and guffawing through this. I could predict every plot point and yet I wasn't bored at all. A by-the-numbers raunchy comedy that worked.

Hsu has been a roll. From her ATT commercials, to Mrs Maisel, to Everything EVerywhere, and now this, she's starting be a must-watch star for her comedic stuff. The other cast members I hadn't seen before but they were all pretty good.

I think one of the reasons, this worked for me was I know people like this. There are two people in my office who kinda of act like these characters, the KPOP nut and the stoner art chick.

Worth the price of admission.

I have to admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations to this 2023 comedy titled "Joy Ride" since the synopsis wasn't really all that interesting. But with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, then of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

And luckily so, because writers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao and Adele Lim put together a script and storyline that was as entertaining as it was funny and enjoyable. I was genuinely surprised and entertained by director Adele Lim's 2023 movie. And I am glad that I opted to sit down and watch it.

The storyline is a nicely written one of friendship and also coming to learn about oneself and one's heritage. Actually there are several layers to the script and storyline, and they compliment one another quite nicely, and the writers really collaborated quite well in compiling a rather enjoyable comedy here.

There are some really good and genuinely funny moments throughout the course of the movie, and director Adele Lim had me laughing several times.

Not only was the storyline nice in the movie, but th character gallery as well. The four main characters in the movie, Audrey (played by Ashley Park), Lolo (played by Sherry Cola), Kat (played by Stephanie Hsu) and Deadeye (played by Sabrina Wu) were well-written characters with interesting characteristics and traits to them. I really enjoyed these four characters and their interactions and the situations they find themselves in throughout the course of the 95 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in "Joy Ride" were great, and the four main actresses Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu were not only well-cast for the roles and characters, but they also carried the movie quite nicely throughout the entire movie. And a lot of the overall enjoyment of the movie definitely rest on their accomplishments throughout the narrative of the movie.

If you enjoy comedies with a solid storyline as well, offering more than just cheap slapstick comedy, then director Adele Lim's 2023 movie "Joy Ride" certainly is well-worth taking 95 minutes to sit down and watch.

My rating of "Joy Ride" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Joy Ride (2023) is a raunchy and crude road comedy film directed by Adele Lim and starring Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu. The film follows four friends -- Audrey (Park), Lolo (Cola), Deadeye (Wu), and Kat (Hsu) -- as they travel across Asia in search of one of their birth mothers.

The film is a complete and utter mess. The humor is juvenile and offensive, the characters are unlikable and underdeveloped, and the plot is nonsensical. The film also has a serious problem with tone, veering wildly between crude comedy and serious drama.

The film's only saving grace is its cast, who do their best to make the material work. However, even their efforts are not enough to salvage this train wreck of a film.

Overall,Joy Ride is a terrible film that is not worth watching. I give it 1 star out of 10.

Here are some of the specific problems with the film:

The humor is juvenile and offensive. The film relies on cheap sex jokes and stereotypes, and it never seems to understand what is funny.

The characters are unlikable and underdeveloped. The four friends are all one-dimensional stereotypes, and they are never given any real depth or development.

The plot is nonsensical. The film's story is completely unbelievable, and it makes no sense.

The film has a serious problem with tone. The film veers wildly between crude comedy and serious drama, and it never seems to find a consistent tone.

If you're looking for a good comedy, I would recommend watching something else. Joy Ride is a complete waste of time.

Joy Ride is a solidly entertaining X-rated comedy that will be sure to give you a good laugh.

It follows a group of American-Chinese friends who travel to China for a business trip which quickly descends into chaos.

A road trip descending into chaos doesn't exactly sound original, and it isn't. The story is unlikely to blow you away with this one, but it does the job. It leaves plenty of room for good comedic setups, and has a couple of decent emotional kickers in there too. It's well paced and has good momentum throughout.

As mentioned it is sure to give you a laugh as there are plenty of laugh out loud moments. The comedy is often quite bold and brash, but there are some nice subtle moments thrown in too. The whole theatre was laughing out loud which is always a good sign.

The performances are all really good, with some brilliant comedic timing and line deliveries. The four characters complement each other well and have great chemistry which is so vital in a comedy.

My only real criticism is that it does try a little too hard with its comedy and at times it is crude just for the sake of being crude. I can see why, as for so long women weren't really granted the opportunity to operate in the R-rated comedy space, but there was maybe a little over-correction of that imbalance here, leading to some cheap gags.

Overall though I think this film is a blast. Fun characters, lots of laughs, engaging plot, great performances. Definitely one to watch for any comedy fans out there.