Charles O'Keefe

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Movie Review: Joy Ride

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Char1es0keefe_1

Details from IMDB:

2023R1h 35m

Follows four Asian American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers.

  • Director
    • Adele Lim
  • Writers
    • Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
    • Teresa Hsiao
    • Adele Lim
  • Stars
    • Ashley Park
    • Sherry Cola
    • Stephanie Hsu

Initial Thoughts:

You see a tagline with a movie review on a website. It’s a gimmick, like lots of things in marketing/entertainment/life, just a way to get clicks/interest. And this is by no means original but I like the thought of someone randomly finding my tagline someday with this movie. So I’ll go with “raunchy, Asain comedy has surprising heart and a touching end”. Touching end? Like that? What can I say, I like puns. Seriously we watched this months ago on Cineplex as a digital movie. If you have the right setup is in many ways better the theater, especially for when you’re in the mood to split a longer movie up over two sittings, but I digress again. I had heard good things about this movie, so we gave it a watch.

Main Points:

I think it’s wonderful to see diversity, life would be so boring without it when you think about it. This is a great example of how an Asian cast, director, and cast can take an American idea (“The Hangover” in many ways) and make it their own. I enjoyed this movie, it has lots of foul language, several laugh-out-loud funny moments, and mostly likable characters. While I appreciate how important a discussion adoption is and that it was to add a heart to the movie, it just seemed a little unusual to put it in a comedy (there is another scene that makes you a little sad to watch).

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this movie, well acted/written and directed. I also appriecate putting some sex scenes on their head (not literally!) and thought it was good to show a woman in control of a sexual situation. Obviously, with nudity, sex, and coarse language this is ages 17+, though the scenes weren’t as explicit as they could have been. I really appreciated how this movie is a great length at one and a half hours, that’s all 90% of comedies need. 8 out of 10 from me and a solid recommendation who likes a raunchy comedy with heart and good laughs.

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