Joy Ride Review

[Nightmare_Dreaming]

Joy Ride (2001)

ACTING :
Paul Walker - Lewis , Steve Zahn - Fuller , Leelee Sobieski -Venna , Ted Levine - Voice of Rusty Nail

The Plot :
Lewis goes on a road trip to pick up his "friend" Venna. Before he picks her up he bails his brother , Fuller out of jail. Fuller decides he wants to tag along with his brother. Fuller convinces his brother to pull a prank on a trucker via CB , but what they don't know is that he doesn't like being the punch line and what they don't know WILL hurt them! The trucker terrorizes the three teens and teaches them a lesson that they won't foreget.

What I Thought :
Joy Ride is one of the best movies in recent years. Doesn't take the same path as I Know What You Did Last Summer , Valentine , and other horror movies thease days. It has good suspence. If you're a gore hound then this film isin't for you. Dispite the low blody count and low gore , it's still a thrilling "ride" from begining to end.

My Rating
8/10

If You Liked Joy Ride Then Check Out :
Duel
Breakdown
The Hitcher

[Lady Summerisle]

JOY RIDE

As a older horror lover, I tend to stay away from newer films. But I actually got around to seeing Joy Ride, and...I didn't regret it.

THE PLOT: Everyone knows, so I'll get down to the nitty gritty.

THE ACTING: YESS!! Steve Zahn in a horror film! Fuller Thomas is a jackass, like Dennis Dun's character from PRINCE OF DARKNESS, until he is faced with the harsh reality that one of his pranks started something nasty. His face when the man who would be jawless is ripping into the foreign desk clerk is great, and subtle.
He made me laugh, and cringe (tetanus, anyone). Fuller is not perfect, trying to seduce Venna via alcohol, getting arrested constantly...
Paul Walker makes a good woman impersonator, and thats about it. He is adequate, but C. Thomas Howell learned the same lesson in THE HITCHER, coming out a changed man. Lewis doesn't seem to learn his lesson. It is not the fault of the writing, it's Walker's constant self-consious acting.
LeeLee Sobieski COULD HAVE been a worthy successor to Jen Jason Leigh's Nash. Except the script leaves her empty. She was the one who remained calm and sensible, and I admire that in a character. But, as I said, she was widow dressing. Tied to a chair, I thought it would have been more effective had she suffered a similar fate as Nash.
TED LEVINE WAS GREAT! Using his best asset, his voice, he IS Rusty Nail. Joy Ride doesn't make the mistake of JEEPERS CREEPERS (showing us the villain), and goes by Duel's road, of not showing us Rusty Nail. All the better for the villain to terrorize our heroes. Levine is a character actor who elevates material he's given (THE MANGLER, one the other end SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), Critics praise Tony Hopkins in Lambs, but Levine is Buffalo Bill to perfection. Even Jonathon Demme acknowledged him. JOY RIDE is a gas to watch, when Levine says "Candy Cane" you know he means business.

THE DIRECTING: Being a John Dahl fan, I noticed Dahl using the tense structure of his previous films, without the erotic factor. Dahl is a better director than Victor Salva, and knows how to photograph his scenes in such a way that lighting and angles are utilized suspensefully. Somewhat of an Argento influence?

THE SCORE: Good, since it fitted the scenes. But the overall tension drowned it out.

OVERALL: 8/10
Zahn has chemistry with his co-stars, and the simple, HITCHER-esque plot worked for it.Had Venna been a bit more dimensional, I would have gone to 9. And Paul Walker is a no-no as far as casting goes in my book. Rusty Nail is a sublime villain.
Steve: Nice ass! I hope to see more of it in the future.

[gorysnoopy]

TED LEVINE WAS GREAT! Using his best asset, his voice, he IS Rusty Nail. Joy Ride doesn't make the mistake of JEEPERS CREEPERS (showing us the villain), and goes by Duel's road, of not showing us Rusty Nail.

hey i saw him!!


not trying to be a wiseass but was i seeing things or isn't rusty nail a big fat guy?

[Lady Summerisle]

GORYSNOOPY,

Rusty Nail is "glimpsed", not outright seen in full regalia. He is seen briefly, but it doesn't show him too much, therefore he is rarely seen.

Wiseasses are good, as long as they know what they are saying.

Ted Levine should have played the Nail himself, though, he's quite imposing physically.

[countchocula]

Yeah, it wouldn't have hurt to have Levine do more than just supply Rusty Nail's eerie voice, but I'll settle for Matthew Kimbrough's intimidating build. There's a scarcity of obese villains in the genre!

[Lady Summerisle]

There's a scarcity of obese villains in the genre!

countchocula,

You have said a mouthful with that one.
Ralph Fiennes drew the end of the line for RED DRAGON. He weighs 5 pounds! Rusty Nail could have kicked his ass.

Whether Kimbrough or Levine supplied the body, LeeLee Sobieski wouldn't be hard to wrangle, nor would the sublime Steve Zahn (again: nice buns, baby!). Paul Walker would be whipped by Kimbrough.

I just thought, the ICE truck driver reminded me of my Uncle Ken. He!He!

[heretic]

I liked this one it has some very tence moments in it that were really good!

[countchocula]

Good point, Lady. Hell, a toothpick could've taken this cast down! I guess we'll have to look to Rusty Nail, Leatherface, and Dr. Evan Rendell (aka Dr. Giggles) for plump scares.

[the p&j experiance]

JOY RIDE
8/10
Okay here it goes...
For the record, Steven Zahn is fucking awesome! That's what attracted me to this movie, Steve fucking Zahn! So when I went into the theatre with my friend's dad and my friend, I wasn't expecting to much, I was just expecting Zahn. But I came out of the theatre with a 10 inch hard on and a trucker's cap. Then I went home and downloaded the bootlegged version off of IMesh and watched it again....and again and for the hell of things, and again. Everyone knows the plot and here's my two cents.
UP SIDES
-Steve Zahn-I think this was covered up there.
-Not a traditional horror movie-Isn't covered in blood and gore.
-Rusty Nail-Even though you mainly here his voice, he was still one of the creepiest villians ever.
-"We have a gun man!"-For those who've seen it, you get the point.
-Steve Zahn-I think I already said that, but oh well.
-The climax-Very intense.
-The ending-Cough*sequel*Cough
DOWN SIDES
-Paul Walker-Not a good excuse, but I don't like the guy
-Leelee-Or however you spell the bitches name, can't stand her
-Horror cliches-A little too many for my taste.
So there it is, I think we've covered a lot today and hopefully you'll watch the movie and enjoy it like I did. Once again only my opinion not a proven fact. Survey says...

BUY IT!

[pig farmer]

Yeah, Steve Zahn owns you!

Seriously though, I really loved this movie. I expected it to be sort of lame, but it was actually kind of creepy at parts. Ted Levine.. IT PUTS THE CANDYCANE ON ITS RUSTY NAIL. Yeah, his voice is good. Leelee is alright, I suppose. Paul Walker is still 'Skip' from Pleasantville to me, he can never be anything more. Actually, I liked him in the Skulls, too. Thor help me for admitting my love of the Skulls, but that's an entirely different subject. Steve Zahn. Nothing more needs to be said about him. If you don't know who he is, you know nothing!

Upsies:
Steve Zahn.
"Only 40 bucks!"
The ending.

Downsies:
Cliches.

Overall: 8/10

[Lady Summerisle]

WELCOME TO THE STEVE ZAHN APPRECIATION SOCIETY!

Joy Ride was all about Steve (and his fine tush).
I already reviewed it but I can illuminate the ups and downs.

UPS:
-Steve, he actually must have got Walker to laugh because Zahn is hilarious. Walker looked like he was really laughing, not some fakey laugh.That "Bitch" routine made me crack.
-The writing. Better than usual.
-NO FEMALE NUDITY! Finally.
-Levine and his cunning linguistic skills.
-No seeing Rusty up close.
-It made me squirm.

DOWNS:
-Painfully low-budget (same gas stations, it seems)
-LEELEE and non-actor PAUL WALKER. Gah, where did you go to acting school? KEANU REEVES CENTER FOR YOUNG ACTORS!

-The lack of Leelee being shot. Jennifer Jason Leigh didn't get it so easy in THE HITCHER.
UMMMM

No more bitching from me.
Far superior to JEEPERS CREEPERS.

Zahn was so cute when you know Fuller piddled in his trou. Gotta love it.

[!MorganOnyx!]

First off, I'd just like to say I couldn't wait to see this movie. But it wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought it would be. I was quite disappointed. Yes, STEVE ZAHN was great and the chemistry between him and PAUL WALKER was spot on. They seemed to be really having a ball.

Anyway, please explain the ending to me somebody - am I being thick because I'm such a pro usually?!!

[pig farmer]

You are being thick. Here is why!

****SPOILERS!****
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Remember when they were first being 'chased' after they were at the gas station and Lewis (Walker) left his credit card in the shoppe? Well, it was returned to them by the driver of an ICE truck. At the end, they say he worked for 'Some ICE company,' which means Rusty Nail (Lavine) took the body of that man on the way back to the highway after pushing Lewis' car into the tree. He must've started the truck, put the Ice man's body in it, and let it drive into the motel.
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****End Spoilers****

[!MorganOnyx!]

Spoilers


Oh i wasn't being thick then because that's what I thought. But if you look at the shots where you see the 'bad guy' grabbing LEELEE and later grabbing ZAHN, he looks exactly the same as the guy who was dead in the truck at the end, thus indicating that the guy in the truck wasn't just some random guy, but the actual guy who wanted to kill them! Also, the ICE truck driver who gave WALKER his card back, was skinny with a goatee. The dead truck driver was fat and balding. How do you explain that?!!!!!!!

[pig farmer]

I think he only had a moustache, but one of those long ones like Lemmy. Other than that, he had a pot belly! And the man in the truck was far too clean to be compared to the one grabbing Leelee and Steve Zahn. I didn't see much of the dead truck driver except his arm, I am pretty sure. His arm and a ton of blood.

[!MorganOnyx!]

Oh well fair enough if that's the case cos that's what i thought. But i've seen many films in my time and i'd say that the ending was handled really badly if a connosieur like me couldn't grasp it!HAHA

[masknslasher86]

I thought it was a great movie. 8/10

[Tony Montana 83]

Great film but I liked Jeeper's Creepers more. 7/10

[Lady Summerisle]

JEEPERS CREEPERS made a mistake by falling in the last half, and being too revealing.

JOY RIDE engaged me because we never know who Rusty Nail is.

And it didn't have Steve Zahn!

[Duke Nukem]

"Joy Ride" was, I think, the most intense thriller of 2001! I first had a good feeling about it when I saw it poster. Then, I saw it's trailer, and nearly had a heart attack. Then, I saw the movie, and it blew me away! I didn't see a lot of movies, or thrillers, in the theater in 2001, but I can't help but feel it was the best the bunch that I saw. It had good suspense. Steve Zahn was hilarious, but didn't go overboard, fortunately. However, he did steal the movie a couple times from Paul Walker, who I felt was the real star. Figuratively and literally, he took the backseat of this "ride" sometimes, and I think he was a underused. But, Sobieski got underused more. But, overall, the stars do well with what they're given with. This movie takes it's time a little, but it's suspense keeps things interesting. But, then comes the payoffs...