Movie Review: 'Joy Ride' Provides Outrageous Laughs, Sincere Emotions

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3 Jul, 2023

Movie Review: 'Joy Ride' Provides Outrageous Laughs, Sincere Emotions

1/5

From left, Sabrina Wu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu star in "Joy Ride." Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

From left to right: Sabrina Wu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu at Fun Ride. Image courtesy of Lionsgate

Los Angeles, July. 3 (UPI) -- Joy Ride hits theaters this Friday, a steamy comedy filled with occasional jokes. But there are enough sights to see in 95 minutes.

Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lulu (Sherri Cola) grow up as best friends in the fictional town of White Hills, Washington. Audrey takes Lulu with her when she goes to Beijing to make a deal with her law firm.

Lulu also invites her cousin Didai (Sabrina Wu) and the three actors meet Chinese TV actress Cat (Stephanie Hsu).

Audrey's client fires her for being too American. Audrey is adopted by the Wyatt family.

So, to seal the deal, Audrey promises to approach her Chinese mother, and offers to drive her to her next appointment with her client. Lolo has already started working with Audrey's adoption agency to encourage Lolo to find her birth mother.

Many offensive comedies were based on traditional commercials. Also in Joy Ride , the quartet is just starting a real story related to the study of the country and the solution of family problems.

A train wreck costs the girls their passports, but the trip doesn't turn into a disaster like it does on field trips, trains and cars, or road trips . It allows them to explore more of the country, from urban to rural and meet different people.

The cast has the chemistry of old friends and the dynamic, familiarity and rivalry. As such, they make a lot of fun, and some weeds are funnier than others.

All women are sex positive. Lulu is a very explicit artist, creating sexually explicit sculptures, but all four see sex as a good thing.

This leads to a ridiculous sexual breeding in their creative structure. Fortunately, there are a few major jokes that the trailers haven't spoiled yet, including a full joke.

Emotions still run high in these clichéd settings. Joy Ride is about finding Audrey's estranged mother, as well as the breakup of a female friendship.

Audrey struggles with her Asian identity throughout the film. Even Audrey confuses Koreans with Chinese, and is so used to America that she doesn't notice her Asian side.

These unique cultural characteristics set Joy Ride apart in a sea of white comedies. By sharing these traditional themes and making them both funny and honest, they show that they can be equally meaningful to different audiences.

But Joy Ride is more of a comedy than anything else. The film is set very rarely, so even if every scene is not funny, it will never be boring.

Fred Tobel, who attended Ithaca College's film school, is a Los Angeles-based UPI entertainment writer. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Learn more about careers in entertainment.