The summer blockbuster comedy was once a given, with movies like Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder, The Hangover, Bridesmaids and Girls Trip as classic examples. But a comedy that was can get a packed movie theater laughing throughout has been a dying breed in recent years (without Robert Downey Jr. or Minions making the jokes). Enter Joy Ride, a raunchy comedy that has a strong case to be one of the funniest movies of the year.
Directed and written by Adele Lim, alongside Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, Joy Ride follows four Asian-American friends — Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola), Kat (Stephanie Hsu) and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) — who travel to China and go looking for Audrey's birth mother. Needless to say, things don't quite go as planned, but each mishap is an absolute riot for the audience.
It has been a while since I have laughed this hard in a movie theater. While not trying to take anything away from the creatives and actors on screen, Joy Ride is an example of why a movie can be better when it is played in a movie theater. Each laugh felt enhanced as you shared it with a room full of strangers who are just as surprised and delighted at the latest outrageous moment or joke made by anyone in this hilarious leading quartet. And they say some pretty crazy stuff.
This is up there with some of the raunchiest comedies of the last 10 to 15 years, complete with drugs, plenty of sexual innuendo (and just straight up sex jokes) and, of course, a puking scene. What's nice about Joy Ride following movies like Bridesmaids and Girls Trip, as well as female-led TV shows that did not shy away from this kind of humor like PEN15, is that it's not just shock value. Some of the jokes are shocking, sure, but it's because of fearlessness of how far Lim takes them and the comedic talent of Park, Cola, Hsu and Wu, not because of their gender.
It's not all jokes though, Joy Ride has an impactful underlining message and the ability to deliver some truly heartfelt moments in between the big laughs. It also effectively calls out and mocks sensitive racial and sexual perceptions without feeling preachy, while portraying Asian culture in both self-deprecating and respectful ways. That's the secret ingredient that helps make a comedy like this truly last. The movie's message of finding where you belong and the collective of people that make you who you are is the icing on top of all the laughter.
After a stellar opening half of the movie, the second act does feel a little rushed and has a few jokes that don't hit quite as well. Contributing to that is the fact that Joy Ride is a rare thing these days — a 90 minute movie, when most movies feel like they are just getting longer. It finishes strong though and you're certainly not feeling shortchanged; you may actually be wishing it gave itself another 15 minutes. But as the adage goes, always leave them wanting more.
Joy Ride checks off every box you'd want from a comedy — enjoyable characters, an uncomplicated but engaging and satisfying story and memorable moments that make us laugh out loud and want to watch the movie again in case we missed anything from laughing too hard. If there's one comedy to see in movie theaters this summer, Joy Ride is it.
Joy Ride releases exclusively in movie theaters on July 7 in the US and August 4 in the UK.
