Joy Ride

Joy Ride (2023) is a raunchy and crude road comedy film directed by Adele Lim and starring Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu. The film follows four friends -- Audrey (Park), Lolo (Cola), Deadeye (Wu), and Kat (Hsu) -- as they travel across Asia in search of one of their birth mothers.

The film is a complete and utter mess. The humor is juvenile and offensive, the characters are unlikable and underdeveloped, and the plot is nonsensical. The film also has a serious problem with tone, veering wildly between crude comedy and serious drama.

The film's only saving grace is its cast, who do their best to make the material work. However, even their efforts are not enough to salvage this train wreck of a film.

Overall,Joy Ride is a terrible film that is not worth watching. I give it 1 star out of 10.

Here are some of the specific problems with the film:

The humor is juvenile and offensive. The film relies on cheap sex jokes and stereotypes, and it never seems to understand what is funny.

The characters are unlikable and underdeveloped. The four friends are all one-dimensional stereotypes, and they are never given any real depth or development.

The plot is nonsensical. The film's story is completely unbelievable, and it makes no sense.

The film has a serious problem with tone. The film veers wildly between crude comedy and serious drama, and it never seems to find a consistent tone.

If you're looking for a good comedy, I would recommend watching something else. Joy Ride is a complete waste of time.

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.

Finally, a film this summer with the joy of Crazy Rich Asians and the raunchy absurdity of a Judd Apatow comedy or Bridesmaids or The Hangover. Why not? Because Joy Ride is produced by Seth Rogan, who knows absurd raunch, and directed by CRA's writer, Adele Lim.

The four stars of the film (Ashley Park as Audrey, Sherry Cola as Lolo, Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, and Stephanie Hsu as Kat) set out on a journey to Asia to help Audrey the lawyer do a job to guarantee her promotion and ultimately find her birth mother. The acerbic Lola goes to help her best bud, Audrey, who doesn't know Mandarin and Lola does. Deadeye has serious K-pop knowledge, and Kat, now a China screen star, is engaged to an attractive but very Christian co-star (Desmond Chiam).

Holding the chaos in check, Audrey, who orchestrates most of the comedy while retaining her laughably prim attorney vibe, is in a role easily evocative of Kristen Wig's in Bridesmaids. Deadeye plants the film firmly in the current gender identity arena.

Along the way they joke about both Asian and American stereotypes with the joie de vivre of healthy young women having a little fun far away from political correctness and decorum. Perhaps the best of the wildness comes in a reworking of the Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion big hit, "WAP." Catchy and inventive, that song has legs.

Amid the off-color jokes and absurd sexual situations is a theme of finding out who you are amidst the cultural pulls of Asia and America. Stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans are rampant with attending laughs-nothing is off bounds for this satire.

The genius of Joy Ride is the consistently funny, ribald dialogue (Kat says, "My vagina is the devil and she's here to stay!") and rapid set ups that are hilarious and culturally relevant. Watch the Asian response when a family has a group hug: "White People." Enjoy your summer by starting out with this satisfying international work of comedic art.

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.

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.