Joyride

First off, this is certainly not a "great" movie, however is is endearing. The quirky direction, style and simplicity makes this movie memorable and worth watching. It's just one of those movies that is just enough outside convention, yet manages to still be entertaining and purposeful. In "daring to be different", lies it's appeal, and shows that even with a low budget you can make a good movie, and you can have good actors driving it.

Watched this almost by accident on a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and nowhere to go. This movie was much better than any expectations I might have had. Tobey Maguire and Wilson Cruz are fine together as is Amy Hathaway (not familiar with her). Adam West is fine as a sleazy father pimping for his daughter. Though the "losers making bad choices" plot can bore the heck out of me, this one kept my attention. Certainly not great in any way, it's not boring or stupid and can sometimes be surprising.

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.

This isn't award material. The dialog is pretty bad, and the story really doesn't go as far as it could have.

It is, however, a chance to see Tobey Maguire before he fell in love with Mary Jane. Here, he is all ga ga over Tanya (Amy Hathaway - "My Two Dads"), who is the first woman to show him her body.

You also get to see a young Benicio Del Toro, who played a detective trying to solve a murder.

I would have liked to see the character played by Christina Zilber beefed up. She was a hit-woman whose car they stole for a joyride.

Adam West, who was "Batman" in the 60s, played a pervy father that pimped out Tanya for blackmail.

Worth a watch for historical value.

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.