Joy Ride

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.

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.

Not, like, a FLOOD of movies like this, but a couple more every now and then would be great. It's funny, it has heart, and it has good performances by the co-leads.

**ALSO, IT'S A COMEDY THAT'S RATED R, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT ENTAILS THEN THAT'S ON YOU**

Yes, the humour is lewd. Yes, there's a lot of sexual references. Yes, there's even a vagina on full display! What else would you expect from an R rated comedy than adult humour like this? Granted, you might not expect a vagina to be on full display, but it's there. Deal with it.

Also, yeah sure, some of the acting (Sabrina Wu specifically) may not be 'professional' but this was their first actual acting gig and even Meryl Streep wasn't *Meryl Goddamn Streep* in her first role! The important part is that they absolutely nailed their role, especially the scene where they were explaining the "Deadeye" nickname. The rest of the cast were a joy (pun intended) and the chemistry between the four leads was awesome. Hell, the movie itself is awesome! It only lost a point or two because the last minute or so kinda felt really out of place to me...

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.

There's some whores in this house.

The WAP must be the highlight of the film among others.

This is a great film. I have not watched a good raunchy comedy films in a while and this is one great entry to it. It is fun and funny at the same time. It definitely has The Hangover vibes with The Bridesmaids flavour to it and has several laugh out loud moments.

Also it is clever and not just stupid dumb funny. It has heart to it as well but most importantly it's really funny. The female buddy comedy worked and it worked really well.

With the added cultural aspects and some deeper character development, this is a thoughtful examination of identity, cultural connection, personal history and growth. It's also fairly raunchy and lets it's ladies cut loose, providing a great mix of heartfelt moments and raw comedy.

A trip descending into chaos has been done many times but it still works if it's done right. As mentioned, it is sure to give plenty of laughs. The performance are all really good, with some brilliant comic timing. The four leads complement each other well and have a great chemistry throughout which is so vital in a comedy.

Overall, this film is an all and all comedy with some heart as well. Fun characters, lots of laughs, engaging plot, great performance all round. Definitely one to watch if you're looking for a good comedy.

7.7/10.