Joy Ride
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Movie Reviews of Joy Ride
Movie Review: don't screw with a rusty nail . . .
Summary: 3 Stars
Directed by John Dahl (Rounders), Joy Ride (2001) is a thriller about the unexpected repercussions of a foolish prank. A tense, compelling adventure, is built around the tragic consequences of a simple childish joke.
Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) is driving his 1971 Chrysler Newport to Boulder, Colorado, to hookup with his friend Venna (Leelee Sobieski), when he makes a detour to Utah, to bail his older brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) out of jail. On the way up to Boulder, Fuller installs a CD radio in the car, and convinces Lewis to pretend to be a woman, to pull the chain of a trucker they are having a conversation with. It's all in fun, until the brothers pull over at a motel for the night, and run into an obnoxious guest. As a prank, Lewis as the pseudo chick "Candy Cane", sets up a midnight rendezvous at the motel, with a trucker known only as "Rusty Nail". The brothers laugh it up as Rusty shows up at the door of the obnoxious guest, with a bottle of pink champagne, but the laughter dies, and the police are not amused, when the guest turns up near death, lying miles away on the side of the road.
The Thomas brothers soon meet up with Rusty Nail, and barely escape being flattened like a pancake. Fuller tosses the CB out along the side of the road, and thinking their troubles are over, the boys pick up Venna, and head south into Nebraska. Things are pretty cool, until they get a call from their old pal Rusty Nail. The level of action ramps up from here, as Rusty moves forward with his plans for revenge.
Up to the point where Venna joins the guys, the story is very tight, and plays very well. After that, things do get a bit iffy, as the filmmakers were not sure of the best way for the story to play, and the finished version of the film, has a different ending than what was originally planned by writers J. J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe) and Clay Tarver. The DVD contains various alternate versions and endings, providing an opportunity for the viewer to decide which path works best. In addition there are three commentary tracks, which provide a broad spectrum of information.
Steve Zahn and Paul Walker complement each other well, and real life college student Leelee Sobieski, is perfectly cast as Venna. Also key to the film's effectiveness, is being able to establish Rusty Nail as real character with a discernable personality, just from hearing him speak. In the course of the film, Rusty conveys many moods through his voice, from friendly, to shy, to reflective, to ironic, to dog mean, and coldly heartless.
Joy Ride has some rough edges, but is still a pretty entertaining time. Although there were second thoughts about the script, and the last half of the film is cut and pasted together, the story holds together fairly well, aside from Rusty Nail's remarkable talent for kidnapping women.
Movie Review: Scare me, please...
Summary: 3 Stars
My major issue with films like `Joy Ride' is a relatively simple yet pretty big one; they just aren't scary. Isn't that what these films are supposed to be? I mean, sure, they have elements of a thriller, but overall they just don't manage to evoke many thrills with their preposterous scenarios. Thankfully (and I mean that in a big way) the ending of this film is gritty and somewhat terrifying. It is the only thing that elevated this from a 2-star bore.
`Joy Ride' revolves around two brothers who find themselves in a disturbing situation when they play a prank on a lonely and psychotic truck driver. Lewis is traveling to visit his girlfriend Venna when he gets a call that his reckless brother Fuller needs to get bailed out of jail. Fuller is a complete goofball with no regard for consequence. When the brothers wind up with a ham-radio installed in their car they get a little carried away with yanking some guys chain and soon they wind up being hunted by a guy who wants to humiliate them like he humiliated him.
Sadly, this film is just plain preposterous. Nothing makes any sense, not even in a suspension of disbelief kind of way. The acting is rather ridiculous. Paul Walker is probably the worst actor of this past decade, completely unnatural and plain awful. Leelee Sobieski is a bore here. Thankfully Steve Zahn has a shred of charisma (and I generally dislike him) and he adds some color to this otherwise failure of a film.
But I can't slam this film too hard, because it ends on a major high note.
The ending here is one gigantic slice of pure terror. Sure, it is ridiculous and high unbelievable, but one can easily overlook that because it finally does what it promises to do; scare us to death! The gritty, disturbing nature of the ending is just fantastic, and it will make you lose your breath.
Truth be told, most new age teen horror films of this nature are stupid, but horror films don't really have to be smart. If they are scary then they are forgivably dense. This film wins back points for making me near pee myself in suspense during the final moments; I only wish that the setup had been more effective. Sadly, until those last moments of baited breath, this film is rather dull.
Movie Review: Be nice over the CB.
Summary: 3 Stars
Perfect show to see for my upcoming trip to SLC, Utah with my trailer in tow.
Will watch show somewhere in the middle of Nevada at night!
Movie Review: GOOD RIDE
Summary: 2 Stars
ONCE THIS MOVIE GETS STARTED, IT'S WORTH THE WATCH. THEY EVEN GIVE YOU SERVERAL DIFFERANT ENDINGS. IN MY OPINION THE ONE THEY HAD AS THE ENDING WAS THE BEST. LEAVES IT OPEN FOR AN SEQUAL FOR WHICH THEY DID. HAVENN'T SEEN IT YET. BUT I WILL SAY THIS JOY RIDE IS WHAT IT IS. ENTERTAINING AND CREEPY. YOU NEVER GET TO SEE THE VILLIN. I ENJOYED IT AND IM SURE YOU WILL.Movie Review: Movie is too predictable and not really a thriller
Summary: 1 Stars
This movie is too predictable, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who wants to be thrilled or scared. It doesn't really thrill or scare you, unless you're under 10 years old. With the high 4.5 rating on amazon, I thought this movie would be good, but it was a bit disappointing. BUY ANOTHER MOVIE, TRY TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE.
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