'Joy Ride'
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A Salacious Journey of Self-Discovery
Comedy can be wonderfully simple: The protagonist vomits for laughs, dick jokes abound, a tot curses like a sailor. “Joy Ride,” the debut feature from the director Adele Lim and writers Teresa Hsiao and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, hits all these expected beats, but it also has a few subversive tricks up its sleeve. Though occasionally meandering and predictable, this bawdy, tender journey of self-discovery still makes for a good time.
The story begins with childhood best friends Audrey (played by Ashley Park) and Lolo (played by Sherry Cola), who meet as the only Asian kids in their town, and shows them growing into their adult selves. Audrey, a transracial adoptee, becomes an overcompensating perfectionist, while Lolo, a child of immigrants, gets voted their high school’s “Most Likely to Go to Prison.” When Lolo joins Audrey on an important business trip to China, things quickly go awry thanks to the addition of Lolo’s callow cousin Deadeye and Audrey’s promiscuous college bestie, Kat. But as an opportunity arises for Audrey to track down her birth mom, she finally starts to embrace the homeland she never knew.
If you think “Joy Ride” will go there, it does. Kat, who’s hiding her past from her über-Christian beau, shoves eight bags of cocaine up her keister but only recovers seven. It’s only a matter of time before that eighth bag kicks in. (You know that old device, Chekov’s butthole cocaine.) Audrey mentions that she doesn’t often drink excessively and chokes down thousand-year-old-egg shots; puke soon follows.
But the film doesn’t just reach predictable heights, thanks to its refreshingly frank approach to female sexuality. What seems like one flirtation turns into another for Audrey, resulting in a delightful “devil’s threesome.” (Remember that word, “devil” — it’s important to a different, vulva-centric bit.) Much has been made of this movie’s groundbreaking Asian representation, but here’s where it truly does the unexpected: bring a shot of two dudes going down on one woman to multiplexes everywhere. The third-act conflict also packs a surprising punch, with a brief-but-unforgettable turn from the actress Michelle Choi-Lee that will have you dabbing at your eyes.
There’s plenty to shrug at: Quite a few jokes fall flat, the resolution feels unearned, and the comedian Sabrina Wu is woefully underutilized as Deadeye. But while it won’t always grab your attention, “Joy Ride” is still brazen enough to warrant a watch. If you’re not an ardent theatergoer, feel free to save this viewing for your couch — as long as you invite a few of your goofiest friends over to join.
Run time: 95 min.
Not recommended if you: don’t do nudity or blue humor, always need Substance and Depth, get completely taken out of a movie when there’s an obvious homosexual in the cast of characters but nobody acknowledges it.
I also reviewed “Evil Dead Rise” for my patrons this week. To access that review and many more, head over to my Patreon.