Joy Ride (2001/I)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John Dahl

Writers (WGA):

Clay Tarver (written by) &
J.J. Abrams (written by)

Release Date:

5 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't screw with people you don't know (UK)

Plot:

Three young people on a road trip from Colorado to New Jersey talk to a trucker on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychotic killer.

Plot Keywords:

Truck | Prank | Road | Road Trip | Cornfield

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Steve Zahn	...	Fuller Thomas
Paul Walker	...	Lewis Thomas
Leelee Sobieski	...	Venna
Jessica Bowman	...	Charlotte
Stuart Stone	...	Danny, Lewis' Roommate
Basil Wallace	...	Car Salesman
Brian Leckner	...	Officer Keeney
Mary Wickliffe	...	Salt Lake City Police Desk Clerk
McKenzie Satterthwaite	...	Assistant Salt Lake City Police Desk Clerk
Dell Yount	...	Gas Station Mechanic
Kenneth White	...	Ronald Ellinghouse
Luis Cortés	...	Night Manager (as Luis Cortes)
Michael McCleery	...	Officer Akins
Jim Beaver	...	Sheriff Ritter
Rachel Singer	...	Gas Station Manager

Also Known As:

Road Kill (Australia) (New Zealand: English title) (UK)
Candy Cane (USA) (working title)
Highway Horror (USA) (working title)
Joyride (USA) (alternative spelling)
Squelch (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/terror and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | USA:R (certificate #37763) | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hungary:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Arvin, California, USA

Company:

Regency Enterprises

Trivia:

Eric Stoltz and Eric Roberts auditioned for the role of "Rusty Nail".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lewis and Fuller first make contact with Rusty Nail on the CB, as the camera cuts back and forth between Lewis and Fuller in the car, the door lock on Lewis's side of the car is alternately up and down.

Quotes:

Venna: I'm not going anywhere until somebody tells me why I should be afraid of a radio.

Movie Connections:

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Soundtrack:

Anxiety

Superior horror thriller fare

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) is a young man who must head cross-country to bail his deadbeat brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) from the county jail.On the way to meet his girlfriend Venna (Leelee Sibieski),Fuller leads Lewis up the alley and encourages him to use a CV radio he has aquired in order to play a practical joke on a trucker.It is from here that a nightmare ride of mayhem,destruction and death will ensue.

This is quite a pleasant surprise indeed.In what must be his least nauseating,most watchable performance to date,the hardly-master thespian Walker commandeers the lead role with nerve and a quirky humour.The supporting cast are excellent too,and are well served by a tense,tightly written script that throws in the appropriate lashings of suspense as well as side portions of pathos and black humour that keeps the boat flowing nicely.It's a suspense thriller in the vein of the similarly themed Duel and,like that movie,has moments that are genuinely terrifying and which accomplish the movie's task perfectly.****