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I can remember playing on a CB radio when I was a teenager. We would pretend to be people we weren’t. Playing jokes on others just in good ol fun. The little prank in Joy Ride though turned out to be deadly. Remember when you were scared to go in the water because of Jaws? Well Joy Ride directed by John Dahl will make you scared to ever pick up a CB radio again. Do those things still exist? Well if they do, after coming out of Joy Ride you will never want to use it. If you think this will be your typical thriller/horror where you can predict all the action scenes and the trailers gave away all the best action, you are so wrong. In fact every turn of events is just another shocker waiting to surprise you. Writer’s Clay Tarver and Jeffrey Abrams did an excellent job of leading you down one path only to have you go in a completely different direction. Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious) is Lewis Thomas, a scholarship student at Berkley heading home to New Jersey for the summer. His hometown friend Venna (Leelee Sobieski, of The Glass House) who attends school in Colorado is not in any hurry to get home suggests if he had a car hint hint he could pick her up and they could take their time getting home. Lewis cashes in his plane ticket and buys an old car and proceeds to rendezvous with his secret crush. Well this wouldn’t make for much of an adventure would it? Lewis and Venna driving to New Jersey making googeley eyes at each other the whole way. Lewis calls home to let his mother know his plans because he is a straight laced, polite, considerate, honor student. Now he has to swing over to Utah to pick up his brother Fuller Thomas (Steve Zahn, Dr. Dolittle 2) getting out of the slammer again. Yes this was a little out of the way but now we have to give some time for these boys to get into some trouble. Fuller is a jackass and is screwing around on the CB giving Lewis disrespectful younger brother like names. Then he talks Lewis into pretending he is a girl and getting all those truckers all hot. Well he talks him into with his fists, nice guy. Candy Cane hooks Rusty Nail (Mathew Kimbrough in the flesh & Ted Levine as the voice) and gets a little creeped out by the interest. After the fun is over they stop for the night at a cheap motel. Fuller walks into the lobby while this very large man is yelling at the clerk and being a prick then he shoves Fuller out of the way as he leaves. When Fuller gets back in the car he is still fuming over that jerk. Then Rusty Nail is calling out for Candy Cane and does anyone know Candy Cane? Fuller talks Lewis into getting back on the radio and having Rusty Nail meet her at her room with a bottle of pink champagne, her favorite. Only instead of giving their room number they give Rusty the big man’s room thinking it will be really funny to have him woken up at midnight by a trucker with champagne. Only it turns out not to be so funny. They hear some words exchanged and thud and silence. Lewis calls the motel clerk who in turn calls the room to find out nothing is wrong and lets Lewis know. The next morning the sheriff is at their door to find out what happened. This man was found along the road half dead with his lower jaw ripped from his face. They confess the whole story and then they are on their way. Only to find out, Rusty Nail knows who they are and what they drive. This is where all the suspense and action begins. I am not going to give away any of the action. Trust me, you would rather be surprised by everything and I mean on the edge of your seat, jump up and throw your popcorn startled scenes. I find this in few and far between movies, but we are treated to cute bare butts, by Zahn and Walker. They have to bare all, then walk into a diner and order 12 cheeseburgers. Let me tell you what sweet behinds those guys have. Well in the shock and suspense category this movie is right on. The acting is believable and the storyline well done. There are only a few loose ends that don’t mesh but hey, it is just a movie. I give Joy Ride a nine on the About-Movies scale. Ten-four good buddy.
Last updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 05:37:38 PM Click Here to get back into frames.
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