Comedies have all but disappeared from the multiplexes across America, replaced by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s action comedies. But fans of more adult skewed humor have been lamenting the lack of options in theaters for them in recent years with only middling options on streaming attempting to fill the void. A new comedy starring young talent, including a recent Oscar nominee seeks to scratch the itch many have been looking for.
Joy Ride introduces us to Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) and her childhood best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola), whom she met on a playground with her adoptive parents. Now all grown up, Audrey is on track to make partner at her law firm if she seals the deal during a business trip to China to lockdown a new client Chao (Ronny Chieng). While there, Lolo tries to be helpful and tells Chao of Audrey’s Chinese birth mother and promises to bring her to a company outing to display Audrey’s connection to her Chinese roots. Along with Audrey’s friend from college and Chinese actress Kat (Stephanie Hsu), and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin the four friends set across the Chinese countryside to find Audrey’s birth mom and also, themselves.
The humor in this film flows naturally and is shared equally amongst all of the cast with each character bringing something to the table in engendering some laughs. Cola’s Lolo is the most humorous of the bunch combining pithy observations with raunchy humor that feels organic and in line with her character rather than crass for crassness’ sake. The funniest bit involves a wardrobe malfunction that serves as both the story’s main narrative shift and its most laugh out loud funny moment. Meredith Hagner makes a memorable cameo aboard a bullet train in China that is reminiscent of Bridesmaids’ memorable airplane freakout scene as does former NBA star Baron Davis in an uproarious hotel scene. The laughs here are more chuckle worthy than uproarious, but are consistent throughout and sure to entertain the majority of viewers.
Joy Ride is not without its substance in the midst of all of its humor, however. Each of the four women at the center of the story is dealing with internal questions regarding their identity. Writers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao do well in crafting the issues that each character is grappling with in ways that are true to the character arcs and personalities that have been established for them throughout the screenplay, but in also making them interesting and avoiding well worn tropes that the audience may have expected to see coming. For instance, Ashley’s identity crisis does involve race, but her question of who she is revolves around her biological parentage and connection with her birth mother and her culture rather than generic issues regarding being adopted by white parents. Ashley’s journey revolves around belonging, a universal and more interesting concept that ties back into the film’s larger narrative around friendship. Each character’s journey of self-discovery, from Deadeye’s similar grapple with her sense of belonging to Kat’s need to reconcile her newfound religious chastity with her past all lead them back to one another as closer friends more understanding of their places in each other’s lives. Despite the seemingly rote concept, it comes across more fresh than it reads on paper and a more natural conclusion of the story. It’s a satisfactory experience for the viewer who come to value the camaraderie of the foursome and relate to its believability and genuineness.
Joy Ride is an entertaining comedy about friendship among a small crew, but avoids the trap of coming across as too derivative of similar comedies from the past by adding some substance in its exploration of identity and finding your passions. Adele Lim makes some unconventional choices in how things develop within the story with not every character’s arc ending up in a neat little Hollywood bow where things turn out perfectly, mirroring the paths that life often takes us and offering some astute commentary that strengthens the aforementioned explored themes. The cast has great chemistry and come across believable as a group of friends with history and concern for one another. The current state of cinematic comedy has been much maligned, but Joy Ride is a turn in the right direction.
Image: Lionsgate
