Joy Ride – 75%
(Reviewer Flickchart ranking: 1,283/5,042)
Joy Ride is an endearing raunchy comedy from the mind of freshman director Adele Lim. Lim previously helped pen Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). This film turns away from the tame humor of her previous efforts and embraces a hard R rating that would make Judd Apatow blush.
Joy Ride centers on the friendship between Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola). They bond throughout their childhood as the only Asian children in a predominantly white area. Lolo, whose parents are from China, is the rebellious protector, while Audrey, an adoptee with white American parents, is the studious overachiever. The movie zooms ahead to the pair on the verge of 30. Audrey has become a hotshot attorney headed to China to close a massive deal. Lolo is a starving artist, living in her friend’s garage, her art work focusing primarily on genitalia. Audrey invites Lolo to join her on the business trip as she is fluent in Mandarin. At the airport we pick up a third travel partner, Dead Eye (Sabrina Wu in her feature film debut), the awkward friend, and later an actress named Kat (the Oscar nominated Stephanie Hsu), Audrey’s college roommate. Together the four friends end up on a journey through China to find Audrey’s biological mother, and, of course, themselves.
Lim’s film hits most of the expected plot beats for this kind of story. Each friend is uniquely eccentric, they each have their own aspects of life they are hiding from, and a series of happenstance leads to many hijinks. Lim’s script is daring, pushing the boundaries further than previous female gross-out comedies like The Sweetest Thing (2002) or Bridesmaids (2011) dared to go, or even this year’s No Hard Feelings. However, Joy Ride maintains an infectious energy and an undeniable charm throughout its endless sex jokes. An earnestness beats at the heart of Lim’s film. She loves her characters and they care about each other, and this keeps Joy Ride from ever feeling emotionally cold or crossing into mean-spirited humor.
Every joke doesn’t land, but Joy Ride is a fun journey taken with four hilarious leads on their adventure toward self-discovery and personal honesty. While gross-out comedies became a dime a dozen by the late 2000s, Adele Lim’s 95-minute romp is a refreshing palate cleanser amid a summer packed with 2.5-hour blockbusters.