Loucas em Apuros

As of this month, Malaysian American filmmaker Adele Lim has released her directorial debut called Joy Ride. Written by former Family Guy writers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao and co-produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the film has currently been garnering strong critical reviews and a fairly warm response from the general public. In a day and age where we are seeing a lot more representation in Asian American filmmaking, it's delightful to see a fun filled chick flick focusing on real people who are as messy and heartfelt as anyone else out there.

The film focuses on childhood friends Audrey Sullvian and Lolo Chen whose friendship comes to near turmoil on a business trip that leads into the origins of Audrey's real life family, all the while conflicting with the lives and careers of their friends and family. With the film establishing Audrey and Lolo's longtime friendship and contrasting differences, with one trying to discover themselves as a mature hard working lawyer and the other being a raunchy aspiring artist, arguably the most notable themes in Joy Ride deal with identity crisis and cultural expectations. In addition to the struggles of Lolo's quirky K-pop obsessed cousin Deadeye and Audrey's former college roommate turned popular Chinese actress Kat, the amount of conflicts the leads share as Asian American women of different backgrounds makes for a genuinely intriguing watch. Aided by a lot of hysterically energetic banter between Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu, one can see how much heart was elevated through an otherwise crazy thrill ride as far as raunchy comedies go these days.

Speaking of raunchy, perhaps the biggest selling point for the whole movie has to be the wacky hijink raunch factor as opposed to the heart. While there are a lot of observational jabs and one liners directed towards people based on race and gender, most of the humor relies on the shock value our leads get themselves into as they encounter one intense obstacle after another. Complete with full body cringe takes and raw sexual banter, there is almost no stoppage of comical situations to enhance the viewing experience, even if some scenes are less tasteful than others. As far as the filmmaking is concerned, Lim knows how to balance the more laid back conversational moments between characters before allowing the scenery to hone in on multiple exterior locations and fast paced timing. Paul Yee's cinematography helps the most in generating some brightly colorful sequences to expose the richness of China and its many exterior wonders. As introspective as the movie can be from a character study point of view, it also knows when to just have fun with itself.

While it is hard to say if Joy Ride will appeal to all movie going audiences during the intense summer blockbuster season, there is just enough sincere heart and shock humor around this character driven sex comedy. If you're down for a more intensely hysterical gross out road trip comedy as opposed to the bigger adventure and action flicks out there now, this one will definitely be up your alley, regardless if you relate to the characters culturally or not. As far as what this film may do for the careers of its lead filmmakers and actors, here's hoping this unapologetically honest film will keep the momentum going for a while.

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.

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.

The entire review could just be hey this movie is freaking funny and you should go see it. You don't have to read on. It hits straight out of the park and after the snooze fest movie I was watching before this it woke me up. Definitely has the hangover vibes and it's littered with unforgettable scenes.

It's a really fun sound track too, people were vibing and laughing in the cinema, definitely a movie you can watch on a Friday night with friends. On a side note it feels good to know enough Chinese to not need the subtitles. Also, i studied in Beijing for 5 years and this is the most chinese people I've seen speak English. The cast was great, like they were made for their roles and it looked like they had fun making it. It really is a joy ride, a chaotic international road trip adventure.

This is the funniest movie I've seen in a while, also probably the best movie I've seen in general too since everything everywhere all at once. Of course that's a high bar but this is if that, the hangover and crazy rich Asians had a daughter. Everybody at the theater seemed to be enjoying it, it really makes use of it's R rating so if you're prude or pious then it won't be for you. The story's amazing, I wasn't even expecting a plot twist; there's actually more to the story than just jokes even though it's littered with them. Story about friendship and family and finding yourself and avoiding drug dealers on trains. There's a lot of debauchery but it's beyond that and it's a beautiful touching story once the funny business is put aside. The first two thirds of the movie is mainly comedy so the emotional stuff almost hits you as a surprise.

I think the end was a little predictable and parts of the third act felt a little dragged out, just a tiny bit. The first half of the movie made me hope they make sequels, but the second half closed off the stories perfectly and I think they should just keep it a one off. The cast has talked about sequel though and I'll still be excited for it nevertheless. I definitely highly recommend you watch this, in a crowded theater if you can.