It’s always fun when we get a mystery movie at Cineworld and we checked out Secret Screening 5, there had been plenty of speculation on what the movie would be, but the movie turned out to be the rather funny 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 centres 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).
I have to say that after seeing the trailer a few times at Cineworld I was looking forward to the movie and was hoping that it would be as good as the trailer made it out to be, thankfully I wasn’t disappointed and Joy Ride certainly had me and plenty of other watching the Secret Screening laughing out loud throughout the majority of the movie.
There are plenty of F-Bombs in Joy Ride and if you are easily offended then that’s not all that’s going to offend you, but take everything with a pinch of salt, this is a movie that takes you on a journey of pure craziness. The predicaments that the group get into are wild, from being a train with a drug dealer and having to hide the drugs to a certain “Pussy-Tat”, which is certainly one of those spit-your-drink-out moments!
But behind all the madness is a charming story of Audrey (Park) trying to find out who she is, where she comes from and to finally meet her birth movie. But things aren’t all that she expects them to be, thankfully she has her friends with her to support her and to make things a little wilder for her on their Joy Ride.
I loved the cast in the movie and they all worked so well together, look out for the K-Pop scene that you get a teaser of in the trailer, it is so funny in its entirety and just adds to the comedy from the writers. Director Adele Lim has brought us a great comedy movie for her feature directorial debut and certainly gets the cast coming together nicely with the storyline and comic timing from start to finish with moments of emotion and all-out gross-out comedy.
The music for Joy Ride sounds great as well, Nathan Matthew David (Young Rock) has brought us music that fits in perfectly for the movie which in my point of view really gives you a great feeling when a movie has great music to enjoy as well as everything else.
Thanks to Cineworld for showing the movie as the Secret Screening 5, Joy Ride is coming to UK cinemas on the 4th of August 2023, I for one will be heading back to Cineworld for a second helping of the movie.
What's new Pussy-Tat!
Movie title: Joy Ride (2023)
Movie description: Follows four Chinese-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.
Date published: July 8, 2023
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 34m
Director(s): Adele Lim
Actor(s): Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu
Genre: Comedy
Summary
Joy Ride is lots of fun with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and some gross-out scenes that will have you laughing even more.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
