As someone who spent their formative film viewing years in the aughts, I find myself connecting to many obscure films. The weed-protecting, survivalist Jason Vorhees was my Jason. The terrifying, and killer, tooth fairy from Darkness Falls was my kindertrauma. Jared Padalecki was part of my generation’s House of Wax. It feels like I sometimes find myself obsessed with films that no one really cares to talk about nowadays. Upon finding out an overall theme for August, road trips, one film came to mind immediately: Joy Ride.
A Cross-Country Trip That Turns Deadly
Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) exchanges a plane ticket back home from college for the chance to drive his crush, Venna Wilcox (Leelee Sobieski), to their hometown in New Jersey. The only problem is that Venna lives in Colorado, while Lewis lives in California…and he doesn’t have a car. After a spur-of-the-moment car purchase, Lewis prepares to embark on the road trip of a lifetime. Only now, he has to make a pitstop in Utah to bail his brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) out of jail. Fuller joins Lewis on the trip and installs a CB radio into Lewis’s new car. One fateful interaction with a trucker named Rusty Nail (Ted Levine/Matthew Kimbrough) turns this into a road trip from hell.
Off of a solid run of films, before turning to a life of television directing (no shade, make your money king), John Dahl would slightly pivot from his neo-noir style of film to a grittier horror action piece. Written by Clay Tarver and post(ish)-Felicity, pre(ish)-Alias J.J. Abrahams, Joy Ride is a high-octane, starstudded popcorn flick that puts others of its ilk to shame. While its budget of 23 million dollars (roughly 32 million in today’s money) sounds steep…it is! Joy Ride is a visually well-polished film, but it’s hard to see where those 23 million went. The action and set pieces stand out for their top-notch production value; seemingly, no expense was spared in that department.
The Cast Chemistry That Makes Joy Ride Endure
Joy Ride’s charm comes from the relationships between Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski, and Steve Zahn. Each actor embodies their characters with a level of tact and professionalism that wasn’t overly present in the films of this time period. Everything about Joy Ride feels too ahead of its time. Sinking that much money into a project like this seems like it should have been a futile task. But once Rusty Nail hammers his way back into the lives of these three weary travelers, the film gets more sinister than you could imagine.
Ted Levine is unquestionably an incredible actor. The tenor and masculine vibrato of his voice could make even the most macho person quake in fear. Rusty’s endless quest to bring justice from this incredibly messed up slight, crosses the lines in too many ways. Could you imagine Rusty Nail caught up in one of those awful YouTube pranks? (Sequel idea!) Once his revenge starts, there is no stopping it. And it’s one hell of a pulse-pounding ride.
Balancing Humor, Action, and Pure Panic
John Dahl crafts a perfect balance between action, comedy, and thrills. I mean, you don’t put Steve Zahn in your film if you don’t want people to at least chuckle a little. Zahn’s quips and one-liners are used sparingly, but enough that when the jokes stop flowing, and the horror picks up, you miss the jokes. His role in the film is like that shot you have before you get onto the subway to go on a first date. The comedy is a social lubricant so by the time the film completely shifts to dark and threatening, you’re yanked back in.
If you have a physical copy of Joy Ride, I highly suggest checking out the almost 30-minute-long alternate ending. Walton Goggins is in it! There are so many endings to this film, and each one surprisingly works just as well as the previous one. The theatrical ending is the most enjoyable and is a great kickstarter to two less enjoyable films.
Joy Ride is a blast from the past and is a film everyone should revisit (or watch if you haven’t seen it.) Incredible performances, exciting action sequences, and a truly terrifying antagonist make Joy Ride all gas and no brakes.
