Joy Ride (2023)

[Britnasty]

YouTube

From the producers of Neighbors and the co-screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians, JOY RIDE stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Oscar® nominee Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu. The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

Also starring Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Lori Tan Chinn (Awkwafina is Nora From Queens), David Denman (Greenland), Annie Mumolo (Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar), Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Alexander Hodge (Insecure), and Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians).

Well, this is gonna be a big hit.

Premiered at SXSW last night and is already getting rave reviews.

[mjvmovieman]

Very strange to reboot this franchise this way.

[rooboy78]

Nice to see big budget studio comedies making a comeback in theaters as opposed to being made direct-to-streaming. This summer we have Joy Ride, Strays and No Hard Feelings.

[master gandhi]

Sounds good. I’ll check it out.

[DTSBOY]

..." slide's off limits to ting-tongs", smack-right in the kisser.

very funny trailer.

[Poya]

I dunno. I didn't find this funny. I know it's just a trailer but maybe I've outgrown this type of humor. And I don't trust anyone who's written for Family Guy.

[VictoryAtNight]

I have never seen a 5-year old say the F-word, let alone a 5-year old Asian girl.

Trailer looks good. More R-rated comedies, please.

[BluBonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmB5e1UFj88

[Jay H.]

Where's Steve Zahn in that trailer?

[Britnasty]

They really haven’t been promoting the advance screenings tonight at all.

Mine is in a 180 seat auditorium and I’m the only ticket sold.

Either way I’ve been looking forward to this for months and I cannot wait.

[SethRex]

Now I want to see how the parents reacted to that moment.

[VictoryAtNight]

Early access July 5th @ my Regal.

[Britnasty]

5/5.

Undeniably hysterical. Funniest film you’ll see this year. I had the theatre to myself for the Early Access Screening last night. However, they saw the writing on the wall about two hours before the showing and moved it from the 180 seat auditorium with Dolby Atmos to the 32 seat one at the very end of the theatre that they shove indies no is seeing or hit movies in their 20th week of playing (Top Gun Maverick died in this theatre and sold out every showing until it eventually left).

Irregardless of that aspect, did I mention this was hysterical? I barely had time to catch my breath between gags. The ensemble of Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu are a match made in heaven. They effortlessly jive between one another like they truly are lifelong friends.

Adele Lim has written a killer script here. It reminds me of all the debaucherous 90’s hard R comedies we all love. Full frontal nudity, hard drugs and alcohol abound, inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times. It definitely crosses the line once or twice but as the audience you don’t care because they went for it and you jumped on the ride to laugh at it. I know after seeing this, Warner Brothers execs are backing up a Mack truck of money to Adele’s front door begging her to come back to writing the script for the Crazy Rich Asians sequel they just can’t seem to get right.

At its core, this film is all about friendship and what each girl means to the other. Where they slot in each others lives. It’s a sisterhood that lasts and bonds that can’t be broken. It’s also a film about Asian representation and seeing these women fill certain roles, it’s wonderful to see.

Definitely going to be in my Top 10 of the year. I want to see it again asap.

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by Britnasty

I know after seeing this, Warner Brothers execs are backing up a Mack truck of money to Adele’s front door begging her to come back to writing the script for the Crazy Rich Asians sequel they just can’t seem to get right.

Is that still happening?

I hope this movie marks the return of R-rated comedies.

[Poya]

It's funny how this movie's being accused of being politically correct because it has Asians as the lead when literally nearly 2 decades ago, we had Harold and Kumar and nobody was complaining about them. And half their jokes were about race.

[jan_tran]

Originally Posted by Poya

It's funny how this movie's being accused of being politically correct.

By who? The story would not work with (i.e.) 4 white women.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by jan_tran

By who? The story would not work with (i.e.) 4 white women.

I don't think they care.

[ghostsofjoy]

I am very much looking forward to checking this out on Thursday. I’ve seen the trailers countless times ahead of other films and the jokes are still cracking me up so I can’t wait to see what else this has in store!

[MuffinMcFluffin]

Starting with positives, this is a comedy that's funny (and I mean I laughed hard at certain moments), as a raunchy comedy it does more so based on lines/situations than it does on a visual front, the pacing never drags, it checks off emotional and conflict boxes, it brings up topics without getting preachy about them, and it can appeal to a larger demographic than perceived.

The positives outweigh the negatives, but this movie also does have negatives. The comedy isn't necessarily clever, but rather it's just funny because it's funny. In fact, most of it is packed in the middle act of the film, whereas the last act focuses more on story resolution (which I'll get to) and the beginning for me was comedy that didn't hit as well, but that makes sense because I didn't yet know the characters or situation, and instead was just meant to set the tone (and without it the middle act would've felt out of place with its comedy).

This also has a very unfocused story. I know some people won't care as long as it makes you laugh, and I understand that. However, because the final act leaves out a lot of comedy for the sake of its story resolution, to say it delivers on that aspect is iffy because the entire story lacks focus. One could say it is character-driven, but that middle act really begs to differ. If you read an elevator pitch for this film, it's going to leave out a lot of plot elements that it tried to throw into the mix. Its title can be taken multiple ways, but isn't fully accurate in any one of those ways. It felt like it went for comedy first and foremost, and other aspects were either afterthoughts or compilations of other stories thrown into this one. They're all there, but it leads to lack of focus. There was even a joke that contradicted a huge plot point in the film, but because it happened before the plot revelation people might forget about it. Characters are also one-note, which can work for comedies and it works for this one, but it is worth noting.

Like I said, the positives outweigh the negatives and I really did enjoy myself with this flick. It is a hoot and I'm glad that this summer is getting some comedies in theaters. I recommend it, but comedies are largely subjective and I think this movie lives or dies based on how funny it is to you, because I don't think the story or characters make up for it as much even though they try and throw those elements in (to some success even, but not as a whole and not enough to make up for not laughing).

[BluBonnet]