‘Tis the season for raunchy comedies. Just a few weeks ago we had Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings, and this week it’s a riotous time with Joy Ride. Audrey (Ashley Park) spent her whole life feeling out of place. As an adopted asian kid with white parents, it can feel dislocating – after all, how can you know who you are if you don’t know where you come from? Things were made a little easier for Audrey because of best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola). Lolo was always there to fight Audrey’s battles, and gave her a place to belong even when she wasn’t ready to accept it.
Now, Audrey’s preparing for a work trip to China, and she’s brought Lolo along to help her navigate the mandarin-speaking terrain. Lolo’s cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) comes along, and they all meet up with Audrey’s college best friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu) in China. Kat’s engaged to a gorgeous hunk of a man named Clarence (played by Desmond Chiam, who’s hilarious despite the minimal screen time), but hasn’t dared to share with him the true details of her wild past. In true girls’ trip fashion, things go off the rails quickly, as the girls find themselves in one sticky situation after the next.
There are three big comedic set pieces, and the film does a hilarious job with every single one of them. You’ll often find yourself laughing in shock, as the movie boldly goes places you didn’t think it would. Joy Ride has the ability to be sexy and hilarious at the same time, which is a major feat.
My lament at times with these girls’ trip type movies is that often the friendships don’t feel as authentic and real as they need to be for the movie to work. This isn’t the case for Joy Ride. Audrey and Lolo’s friendship is well-built, with little cracks running through it because friendship isn’t glossy perfection. Lolo’s living in Audrey’s garage while waiting for her body positive art career to take flight, and even though Audrey loves Lolo, she’s a little put out by it and can feel a tad suffocated in the friendship. From Lolo’s perspective, Audrey can be a little self-involved and a bit judgmental when it comes to Lolo’s aspirations. Their relationship feels absolutely real, as does the friendship between the four women. Even Deadeye, who’s new to the group, begins to build connections with each of the women.
As whacky and hilarious as this movie is, I didn’t expect an emotional gut punch to hit me right in the feels. Audrey’s search for her birth mother leads her to a cathartic place of acceptance, of herself and who she is, finally being brave enough to stop carrying the expectations she’s held on to for so long. The best kind of comedies are the ones with a rich, emotional core, and Joy Ride has this in spades. This is director Adele’s Lee’s debut feature (she was the writer for Crazy Rich Asians), and she’s simply knocked it out of the park. At times the editing can be too quick and frenetic, which sometimes prevents the humour from sticking in the way that it should, but that’s a relatively small nitpick.
Joy Ride is a fantastic ride of a movie, one I can’t wait to relive once more.
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