Awe Shucks, I Really Thought This Would Be Great!
What could go wrong? Four grown women in a coming-of-age movie? Raunchiness that was so forced, I thought I saw a Sith lord. Humor that’s flatter than Joe Biden’s brainwaves.
There is a special story at the heart of this movie, but unfortunately, the director and screenwriters missed their mark. Joy Ride should have been a touching yet hilarious adventure about an adopted young woman finding her birth mother. Yes, this was supposed to be a sex comedy, apparently a new genre of filmmaking. But this wasn’t American Pie, Superbad, Paradise PD, or even No Hard Feelings. This was just plain bad.
So, where do I start?
Hey, can we get deeper characters?
THE SCREENPLAY WAS BLAH
I honestly don’t know why this screenplay didn’t perform. The writing crew is extremely decorated. Cherry Chevapravatdumrong has written for Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, The Orville, and The Family Guy. Teresa Hsiao also has written for Nora from Queens, American Dad, Fresh Off The Boat, and The Family Guy. Adele Lim, who is also the director, has written Crazy Rich Asians, Lethal Weapon, and Dynasty. On paper, this script should have been incredible. But, sometimes, if you have too many stars on a team, you don’t win the Super Bowl.
What went wrong?
More often than not, humor that works in television, especially animation, does not work on the silver screen. You really can’t take Family Guy humor and insert it into a feature film. It’s just a different animal, from the pacing, to the dialogue, to the character development. A television script often includes 7 short acts, that force-feed you a story in a very short amount of time. Movie scripts are 3 acts with two major turning points, and a very long 2nd act that allows for longer scenes, and more character development. It truly felt as though the writers were trying to force raunchy jokes wherever they could. And they did this so much, that many of the characters that were promising, didn’t grow naturally in the right direction.
If you’re wondering, all personality types can be promiscuous, but all get to the bedroom quite differently. Take for example, the movie, Eurotrip. Jamie was a Type 9 Peacekeeper (the coward), ended up hooking up with a photo lab employee who was attracted to geeks, and ended up making out with his twin sister when he got too drunk. Cooper, who was a Type 8 (lawbreaker), wanted to go on a European sex adventure, but ended up finding love. This is what makes sex comedies very funny, because usually, it’s the character you least expect to get laid, who gets the most tail. And the one who wants to hook up, ends up finding much more.
But you don’t get that in Joy Ride. You get raunchy sex jokes that feel out of place and overshadow a touching story about an adopted young girl trying to find her birth mother. There actually is a very good story here, but it just got lost in the overbearing sex narrative.
Critics are praising this movie as the “golden standard for progressive, raunchy comedy, and the need for more diverse stories being told on the screen.” I feel as though they are giving this praise because it’s made by women, and they all just happen to be Asian.
If diversity means, more Asians on screen – I can say as a 100% Chinese-American, I wouldn’t want more of these movies representing my race. The new golden standard for raunchy comedy belongs to No Hard Feelings, which is a sex comedy that has a lot of heart.
DIRECTION
This is Adele Lim’s directorial debut. All I can say is, “Out of all of the movies you want to make your directorial debut. Out of all of the great stories that haven’t been told yet. You chose this script, this story, and Seth Rogan’s production company.” Seth Rogan and James Franco were close friends, that’s until Seth threw James Franco under the bus for sexual misconduct. Uhm. You talk to anyone who worked near them – I’m not going to put anything in writing, but where there’s fire, there’s usually a lot more fire.
I really hope Adele Lim gets another chance to direct. She definitely has the skill. I truly feel there were just too many egos in this film, pushing and pulling her in different directions. She’s capable of so much better.
LAST THOUGHTS
This film is definitely not for kids. There is nudity in here. Out of all the movies I have seen, this is probably the most raunchy that I’ve seen. Is it funny? The trailer is funnier than the movie. There are parts that make you laugh. But overall, it didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t exactly the worst movie I’ve seen, but it’s definitely a movie I won’t be watching ever again.
GRADE: C
Steve Young
