{"id":26658,"date":"2023-07-05T12:20:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T19:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26658"},"modified":"2023-07-05T12:20:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T19:20:35","slug":"joy-ride-depicts-a-wild-and-amusing-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26658","title":{"rendered":"JOY RIDE Depicts a Wild and Amusing Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 95 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature film from Lionsgate opens at cinemas on\nFriday, July 7th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild and raunchy R-rated comedies featuring characters\ngetting themselves into awkward and uncomfortable situations are nothing new in\nthe movie world. In recent years, audiences have seen The Hangover<\/em>\ntrilogy, the Bad Moms<\/em> films and even No Hard Feelings<\/em>, which was\nreleased only last week. Joy Ride<\/em> is another comedy that fits into the\nmold, but offers a bit of a twist on the formula. It isn\u2019t subtle, but the\nmovie does feature some memorably crazy moments to help it stand above the\ncrowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) is an Asian-American business\nexecutive striving to make an impression on her bosses. After being asked to\nclose an important deal in China, she heads off without a working knowledge of\nMandarin. In order to overcome potential language barriers, Audrey asks for\nassistance from college pal Kat (Stephanie Hsu) who is now working as an\nactress in China, and also takes along childhood friend\/struggling artist Lolo\n(Sherry Cola). Also joining the group is Lolo\u2019s oddball cousin Deadeye (Sabrina\nWu). While things immediately go wrong between herself and company president\nChao (Ronny Cheng), Audrey feels forced into accepting an invitation to attend\na party along with her birth mother. She fails to inform Chao that she is an\nadoptee who has no idea where her birth mother is. In desperation, Audrey and\nher friends rush to locate her mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie does come across as a little blunt early on as\nuptight Audrey and her brazen friend Lolo is introduced. That isn\u2019t to say that\ntheir interactions with each other and others aren\u2019t amusing, but some bits do\ncome across as very exaggerated (in particular, the protagonist\u2019s conversations\nwith employers and co-workers). Additionally, all of the four do possess\ngeneral traits early on. One is stiff and jittery, another is curt and gruff, a\nthird is obsessed with her self-image, and the fourth is socially awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, there is some funny material at the beginning\ninvolving Lolo\u2019s body-positive and very graphic art pieces. And when things go\ncompletely haywire at a bar and Audrey\u2019s mission is defined, all characters\nhave a chance to play off of each other and develop fully. Of course, these\nmovies are always based around showing a few outrageous acts. This title does\nsucceed in that department, with a unique take on a sex scene that involves\ncross-cutting and an entertaining payoff the following day. There is also a fun\nscenario involving the individuals impersonating a K-Pop band, which earns big\nlaughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the movie also includes some interesting and\nunique conflict from an entertaining rivalry between Lolo and Kat. This\nreviewer can\u2019t think of another movie that features two characters seemingly\ncompeting to be the lead\u2019s best friend, and it results in enjoyable bickering\nbetween them. However, the biggest scene-stealer may be the Deadeye character,\nwhose deadpan delivery results in numerous chuckles. The shy figure eventually\ngenerates sympathy as she opens up about her struggle to make friends and\ndifficulty fitting in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the final act, the movie does take a more serious\nturn as Audrey deals with her family history and learns more about where she\nreally came from. There is an incredibly sweet scene, although it feels like a\nleft turn tonally after the series of outrageous events that preceded it. Thankfully,\nby this time in the story the cast have already charmed viewers enough to\naccept the shift and emotional stakes as necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019m not sure that Joy Ride<\/em> is a comedy classic, but\nit does include a few fresh elements with engaging work from some very funny\nperformers. And, most importantly, a lot of the jokes and off-color humor\nmanages to hit the mark. If you\u2019re looking for some spicy humor at the movies\nthis weekend, then this title is worth a trip to the local theater.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 95 minutes This feature film from Lionsgate opens at cinemas on Friday, July 7th. Wild and raunchy R-rated comedies featuring characters getting themselves into awkward and uncomfortable situations are nothing new in the movie world. In recent years, audiences have seen The Hangover trilogy, the Bad Moms films and even No Hard Feelings, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,1887,4660,11089,11091,11092,11093,12473,17505,18255,19024,24262],"class_list":["post-26658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-ashley-park","tag-comedy","tag-joy-ride","tag-joy-ride-film-review","tag-joy-ride-movie-review","tag-joy-ride-review","tag-lionsgate","tag-sabrina-wu","tag-sherry-cola","tag-stephanie-hsu","tag-wild-comedy"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}