Ashley Park

Sherry Cola

Sabrina Wu

Stephanie Hsu

Debbie Fan

Kenneth Liu

Annie Mumolo

David Denman

Isla Rose Hall

Chloe Pun

Desmond Chiam

Ronny Chieng

Meredith Hagner

Baron Davis

Chris Pang

Alexander Hodge

Rohain Arora

Daniel Dae Kim

Timothy Simons

Nicholas Carella

Victor Lau

Lori Tan Chinn

Michelle Choi-Lee

Kellen Bruce

Kalayna Kozak

Nathan Parrott

Beckam Crawford

Nick Fontaine

Mengxi Zhang

Chris Wong

Katie Chong

Mike Ching

Alan Tang

Paul Chieng

Darryl Quon

Jasper Chen

Jian Ning Zheng

Samuel Li

Julia Gao

Lillian Lim

Ash Lee

Johnny Wu

Brianna Kim

Johnny Yao

Lana Jalissa

June Fukumura

Sunghee Lapell

Andrew Woo

Dyne Hong

CJ Damaso

Joyce Nguyen

Joshua Candelaria

Everest Shi

Adele Lim

Seth Rogen

Evan Goldberg

Josh Fagen

Cherry Chevapravatdumrong

Teresa Hsiao

James Weaver

Chisom Ude

Thomas Ma

John Alvarez

Nena Erb

Nathan Matthew David

Beverley Huynh

Paul Yee

Josh Plaw

Katrina Castillou

Chris Baker

Athena Bradshaw

Naomi Bakstad

Courtney Kolloff

Michael N. Wong

Janette Rhee

Mark Noda

David Klohn

Karina Ho

Iain Lindsay

Megan Kurzeja

Danny Eberhardt

Rich Delia

Maja Aro

Janina Dall Nenadic

Erin Rose Kelly

Rob Coxford

Krizia Victoria

Justin Rimorin

Rorelee Tio

Ryan Karl Schmidt

Derick Vizcarra

Ed Araquel

Megan Harkness

Wenke Li

Naomi Nhan

Amanda Dawn Mitchell

Patti Henderson

Gioia Caruso

Hannah Christine Kess

Leon Campbell

Daniel Cardona

James Fonnyadt

Nolan McNaughton

Megan Hui

Jovan Nenadic

Jeannie Chow

Melissa Kan

Tonya Hartz

Emily C. Kwong

Torrie Goedtel

Dave Beamish

David Raymond

Jeff Kwong

Toko Nagata

Kyle Sevier

David Tamkin

Megan Kennedy

Adam Richards

Jessica Moskal

Alecia Maslechko

Todd Lapp

David Lebensfeld

Steve Krasznai

Marcus Morrell

Grant Miller

Jessica Uribe

Frances Smith

Melissa Beaupre

Comedy

Joy Ride

Lionsgate

Point Grey Pictures

Red Mysterious Hippo

Canada

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

Español

普通话

한국어/조선말

female friendship

adopted child

woman director

asian american

Brent Marchant

Bawdy, raunchy humor generally isn’t my style, but, when it’s done with wit, creativity and no-holds-barred originality, it gets my attention quickly, which this filmmaking debut from writer- director Adele Lim captures from the very first line of the picture (and never lets go thereafter). This rapid-fire screwball comedy follows the exploits of four young Asian women (Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu, Stephanie Hsu) on an outlandish road trip through China that steadily deteriorates but routinely places them in a host of raucously hilarious, debauchery-riddled situations. In doing so, the film steadily serves up huge laughs in a story that’s accurately being billed as a release unlike anything that moviegoers have seen before. While it’s true that the narrative stretches credibility a bit at times and the film has its share of predictable and sweet but sappy moments, those minor faults are vastly overshadowed by its many strengths, including its fine ensemble cast, balanced pacing, and vibrant, colorful, superbly crafted production design. Because of the nature of the humor, however, sensitive viewers may want to skip this one (though it’s truly hard not to laugh, no matter how conservative one’s views might be). “Joy Ride” may not have received much fanfare or pre-release publicity, but it’s one of the funniest comedies to come along in quite some time, and it’s handily one of the best offerings of what has thus far been an otherwise-stunningly disappointing summer movie season. Indeed, get ready to seriously laugh your ass off with this one.

CinemaSerf

When I saw the trails for this, I was not very enthusiastic. Now I am glad to say that this is more of a failing of the teaser makers than of the film itself, which is actually at the better end of the genre. It all centres around the high-flying "Audrey" (Ashley Park) who is on for a partnership at her firm if she can travel to China to seal a lucrative deal. Rather stupidly, she agrees to take her rather unpredictable pal "Lolo" (Sherry Cola) and, well you can just guess how messy it all gets. For the most part this is quite a pithy and earthily written, end-to-end, comedy drama with some engaging performances from these two as well as from Stephanie Hsu's "Kat" - a soap star with a few secrets to keep - and the occasionally scene-stealing "Dead Eye" (Sabrina Wu) who has many of the best lines as the story unfolds and the adopted "Audrey" seeks out her birth mother. It's the latter stages of the film that rather let this down. It can't resist a wallow in cheesy sentiment and the pace drops off a cliff for the last twenty minutes which is a shame. Still, it's a genuinely entertaining film that puts four quite plausible friends through drinking games, plenty of adult fun and games - with an entire basketball team; and makes some decent attempts at characterisation. I really quite enjoyed it.

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

A sweet story about family, friends, and learning to love the person you are is wrapped up with a big, vivacious, raunchy bow in director Adele Lim‘s “Joy Ride,” a raucous comedy that celebrates women embracing their inner naughtiness. This diverse, explicit, sex-positive movie is going to make a lot of people (especially misogynistic-leaning men), very, very uncomfortable, and audiences should be there for every delicious second of it. Perhaps a better title for the film would’ve been “Crazy Horny Asians.”

A once-in-a-lifetime international adventure is at hand for four Asian-American friends when they find themselves traveling across China in search of one of their birth mothers. There’s the straight-laced Audrey (Ashley Park), a career-minded legal associate on an important business trip who has stretched the truth to her boss that she is fluent in Mandarin. Needing a translator, she enlists the aid of her foul-mouthed, free spirited, irreverent bestie, Lolo (Sherry Cola), to tag along. They’ve always been an odd couple since they first met on the playground as kids, and their friendship is as strong as ever.

The group grows even larger when Lolo decides to pay a visit to her former college roommate turned popular Chinese soap star Kat (Stephanie Hsu) as well as her eccentric cousin, Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). These women couldn’t be more different, but their epic adventure becomes a bonding journey like no other.

The cast is terrific and they work well together. Each woman brings something unique to the table, and they are a delight to spend time with. Each character has something viewers can identify with, no matter how outlandish the situations get. The screenplay was written by three women (Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, and Lim), and their knack for finding the perfect balance between humor and sincerity sets the tone for the entire film. This is a female-forward project both in front of and behind the camera.

The film depicts diverse representation in a natural but refreshing and modern way. It’s not often you get to see women having fun, being bawdy, and participating in (and most of the time, instigating) all forms of debauchery. These friends are sex-obsessed and body-positive, and they aren’t held back by shame or societal standards. This translates to a film that contains explicit sexual content and language, so prudes should steer clear.

While the comedy is mostly hit or miss, the core of the story feels highly personal and heartfelt. There’s an unexpected warmth that’s buried beneath all the saucy bits, but it’s so strong that it emerges as the real star of the narrative. There are several touching moments and discussions about identity and culture, and the message about friendship and family feels universal.

“Joy Ride” doesn’t invent the classic road trip movie, but it does showcase a contemporary and progressive spin that should be welcomed by moviegoers.

Special Feature 'Raunchy'

Special Feature 'Cast Bonding'

Deleted Scene 'Kat & Lolo'

Adele Lim on JOY RIDE

Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola, and the 'Joy Ride' Cast Share Their Go To Timeless Comedies

Joy Ride( 2023)

Four friends. One trip. No luck.

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A review by Brent Marchant

Written by Brent Marchant on Sat Jul 08 2023

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