It’s time to hit the theater for a fun girl’s trip-type movie that isn’t the traditional rom-com that studios usually offer. Instead, we get an adult comedy movie that is full of laughs, and several raunchy moments that will make your parents blush if they’re watching the movie with you.
When Audrey has to go to China for a work trip, she’s taking her childhood best friend along the way to help her translate. What she doesn’t know is her friend Lolo has set up a meeting with the adoption agency so Audrey can find her birth mom, as well as invited her cousin along for the trip. Add in a college friend and a mixture of personalities and situations lead to hilarious moments as the work trip turns into a girl trip gone wrong.
The movie seems to take the same basic friend setup as The Hangover, with an uninvited friend and a mixture of personalities along the way that lead to situations that none of them would have wanted. But in the mix of all of the bad situations, there is a bit of the Asian American experience and that of adoptees added into the story. The difficulty to connect to the culture they were born into and what it is like if and when they return to the country they were born into. The societal differences and expectations that foreign adoptees face make it a completely different experience than they originally expected.
But even with all that said, Joy Ride will have audiences laughing at the extreme and bizarre story that the movie puts on the screen. Joy Ride seems to hit the sweet spot on movie times, coming in at just over an hour and 35 minutes. It is just the right length to not feel like they’re stretching out jokes or bits too long. It goes from scene to scene at a decent pace and keeps the audience entertained the whole time.
While the movie does go from laughs to moments that may have you tearing up, it does have a lot of raunchy moments throughout it. With sex scenes, orgies, drug use, and adult-themed art pieces nudity, the movie is definitely not one for younger viewers. This friend trip-type movie likes to push the boundaries and keep you guessing where it will go next.
Joy Ride is in theaters everywhere on July 7th.
Overall Rating:
About Joy Ride:
From the producers of Neighbors and the co-screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians, JOY RIDE stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Oscar® nominee Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu. The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are. Also starring Ronny Chieng(Crazy Rich Asians), Lori Tan Chinn (Awkwafina is Nora From Queens), David Denman (Greenland), Annie Mumolo (Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar), Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Alexander Hodge(Insecure), and Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians).
Directed by Adele Lim.
(LIONSGATE)
