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Film Review: Joy Ride

Welcome back to the blog readers. I just saw the newest comedy film Joy Ride, and I wanted to share my thoughts. I like a good comedy, but the two big factors I take into effect are if the film is funny and the actors look like they have chemistry. Even if one of those is not present, we usually do not have a winning combination. And the last few pure comedies I saw did not have both factors. Could Joy Ride be the one exception and break the mold? Stick around to find out.


Joy Ride was directed by Adele Lim (in her directorial debut) from a screenplay by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao and a story by Chevapravatdumrong, Hsiao, and Lim. The film stars Audrey Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu, Ronny Cheing, David Denman, and Daniel Dae Kim and sees four Asian-American people: Audrey, Lolo, Cat, and Deadeye (played by Park, Cola, Hsu, and Wu) traveling to China to help Audrey close a business deal and discover the truth about her birth mother.


Remember what I said in my opening paragraph about the two factors that had to be present for a comedy to be good in my eyes? Funny jokes and chemistry between the actors. There was chemistry between George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Ticket to Paradise (2022), but the jokes were not funny. And the same can be said for this year's Somewhere in Queens. However, Joy Ride is the exception to the rule. I absolutely loved this film, and it is clear that the four leads had serious chemistry and I could not stop laughing.


I absolutely have to commend the four leads of the film. Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu absolutely killed it. I did not know a single one of these girls (save for Hsu), and all of them are on my radar now. This was a drastic shift from what Stephanie Hsu did in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and I think I love her now. She has loudly come onto the scene, and I think she will be a namesake not soon before long. She has some of the funniest material here, and she proves she can not only hang, but that she can do comedy. I'm just waiting for her to be in a musical next.


As for everyone else, Ashley Park, who is more of a theaterhead, definitely puts that experience to good use as she delivers one of the more honest and raw performances I have seen this year. I instantly bought into her character and felt every emotion she did. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her in more things. The only major role Sherry Cola has had so far was a voice in Turning Red (2022), and she was definitely the standout of the film. Some of the things that she did in the film gave me the biggest belly laughs I have had so far this year. I think she has a bright future as an actor and a comedian. And Sabrina Wu has not done a whole lot of acting, but they were a highlight. Wu also has a lot of funny moments themselves, but I definitely think they should do more comedic work. I think they're cut out for it. The chemistry between the actors is impeccable. I am shocked with how well the four leads work together, and I really do hope that they work together again.


Remember what I said at the top about chemistry and being funny? We already discussed the chemistry the leads have, so now let's talk about the real reason my but was in a seat: the comedy. This is the best pure comedy I have seen in years, with almost every joke leaving me on the verge of tears (from laughing so hard guys, come on). There were risks taken that I could not believe were even possible. This is definitely the funniest film of the year and it may possibly just creep its way into my top 5 of the year. Let's see how the rest of the year pans out.


To conclude my thoughts, Joy Ride is a hilarious raunchy comedy that adds in some actually intriguing drama to result in a hell of a theatergoing experience, and one of my personal favorites this year. Thank you all for reading and I will see you all for the next post.

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