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Joy Ride
Movie Stats & Links

Starring: Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski
MPAA Rated: R
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Web Site: www.joyridemovie.com
Kiddie Movie: Leave them at home.
Date Movie: She might get scared and snuggle, but mostly she'll probably just laugh.
Gratuitous Sex: Leelee keeps her clothes on.
Gratuitous Violence: Mostly it's all suspense or cars getting bashed.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: Quite a few although they probably aren't supposed to be.
Memorable Scene: It could have been where Venna was tied to a chair in the motel room, but since they blew that one, well, none.
Memorable Quote: None.
Directed By: John Dahl.
Produced By: J.J. Abrams, Chris Moore

Joy Ride
A Movie Review

MPAA Rated - R

It's 1:38 Long

A Review by
The Dude on the Right
Alright, if you hate a movie being spoiled a little and you like a generic "crazy person goes after kids who are stupid" movie, go and see "Joy Ride." It’s okay, nothing special, and gives you the same dumb people in a horror movie that we have now become desensitized with that we laugh at them instead of get frightened. Stop reading now and head to the theater. Otherwise, don’t blame me for giving away a few things.

First off, I so wanted the hotel door to open and Venna (Leelee Sobieski) to get her head blown off. Not that I’m one for gratuitous violence, alright, I like it in a movie every now and then, but if you want to change the horror-movie genre, the writers and directors are going to have to change the rules and let all of the stupid kids die. Secondly, Fuller (Steve Zahn) should have gotten plowed into by the truck while he hung on the fence. And third, Lewis (Paul Walker) should have gotten killed by the cops when he ran. That’s how I would have ended "Joy Ride," and obviously the things I would have liked didn’t happen.

Here we go…

So you’ve got Lewis. He gets the call from Venna that she dumped her boyfriend and wishes she could take a long ride in a car back home so she can decompress. Lewis, being the sappy dude and wanting to get in Venna’s pants, somehow has a refundable airline ticket (who has one of these nowadays?), cashes in the ticket and gets a car. A detour ensues while he bails his brother, Fuller, out of jail, and looking to kill some time, Fuller has a CB installed. Thinking it would be fun, Fuller convinces Lewis to pretend he is a chick called "Candy Cane" on the CB, talking to another CB dude who has the nickname "Rusty Nail." Well, you’ve seen the previews – Candy Cane tells Rusty Nail to meet "her" in a motel room, Rusty Nail shows up but it’s not a chick but a dude in the room, Rusty tears the dude’s jaw off, and our boys are scared.

Blah, blah, blah, Rusty Nail scares the piss out of Lewis and Fuller then disappears, Lewis and Fuller get Venna, Fuller tries to get in Venna’s pants, and Rusty tracks our idiots down and gets them to do all kind of wacky stunts because Rusty has now kidnapped Venna’s best friend.

Where does this movie go wrong? Well, at least for me, most horror movies have become comedies because you just laugh at how stupid these people are. How come none of our heroes have a cell phone? How did Venna get out of all of that tape? What kind of person chases down, in his ice truck, two kids hauling ass away from him, down a dirt road, only to give them their credit card they left at the mini-mart? And why can’t the bad guy ever die (oh, yea – sequel).

"Joy Ride" is just another one of those cookie-cutter horror films, although it is missing the obligatory nudity (Leelee did seem pretty chilly during most of the filming, though). You get some suspense, but mostly you’ll laugh because, well, horror movies just seem to be filled with stupid people.  It's main lesson - Don't fuck with truckers.

If you like the generic horror movie genre, well, you’ll probably enjoy "Joy Ride." If you’re looking for something different, this isn’t it. I give "Joy Ride" 2 ½ stars out of 5. Catch a matinee.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

 

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