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.
