Written by: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong & Teresa Hsiao
Starring: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu
Rating: [4/5]
Raunchy comedies typically get pigeonholed in telling the experience of one particular demographic, because they are allowed to be gross and still respectable. Not every demographic has the luxury in doing so, especially the one covered in Joy Ride, which makes it all the better when it smashes it out the park in delivering a wondrous comedic experience. Asian women typically do not get the opportunity to show out in this manner through the Hollywood system and they definitely did so here.
Rising up at a law firm, Audrey (Ashley Park) gets the opportunity to make partner if she can land a deal with a Chinese businessman. Adopted from a young age from China, Audrey enlists the help of her fluent childhood best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) as they go to China to try and finalize the deal while things do not go according to plan.
Of the many elements Joy Ride taps into that the typical studio raunchy comedy does not, the experience of being adopted from a young age carries the most weight of what this film seeks to capture through Audrey’s personal experience. Yes, we will get into the hilarious raunchy comedy later on but it ultimately stems greatly from Audrey’s experience of being in China for the first time since she was adopted as a child from a mother who gave her up. The trip shifts from a simple approach to land a huge client for a law firm to then a search to find Audrey’s birth mother. Through all the comedy and hijinks that occurs, this remains the anchor and it pulls the rug out from under us with the emotion later on.
As for the comedy, this film absolutely nails the type of humor women typically do not get to engage in, because of how “gross” it can get. The style reminds of Bridesmaids in its no-holds-barred approach of getting nasty with the ways these characters act and indulge themselves in the circumstance. From their thirst for sexual gratification to the way it all plays out in one particular night, Joy Ride continually surprises in the directions it goes in fleshing out the comedy of this situation. We have this uptight lawyer, incredibly sex positive friend in Lola, sexually repressed Kat Huang (Stephanie Hsu), and the beautifully strange Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). They undoubtedly all have their moments to shine and it just gets better and better as things progress from the moments where they run into a basketball team to the K-Pop surprises, and vulgar reveals, everything in this works as it kept me guessing on each occasion of how far they would take these jokes.
However, with all the fun to be had through this narrative, it never loses sight of what this journey ultimately means for Audrey as she battles with her identity. She battles that internal struggle of having an upbringing by white parents and only really experiencing Chinese culture through her friend Lola. Being in her motherland creates a strange feeling for her, which makes the quest then to find her biological mother all the more strenuous on a trip that already has so much hanging in the balance. As mentioned before, this serves as quite the anchor and allows all the crazy comedy to land back at this internal struggle providing a great balance for the film overall.
With this leading quartet, there are not enough words to describe how fun they are in their portrayal of these characters. Each of these individuals find themselves in the upswing of their careers as they make their mark in other projects. Ashley Park serves as the stand-out in “Emily in Paris”, Sherry Cola was splendid in Shortcomings, Sabrina Wu through their standup and, and of course Stephanie Hsu gave a transcendent performance in Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. Their unification through this film displayed the very best each of these actors could bring through their comedy, and the chemistry they build ultimately makes this film the success it is. They work so well off of each other, that makes every comedic scene exciting and allows the emotional ones to not feel hollow at all.
Finding a better raunchy comedy than Joy Ride in recent years would be a challenge many would not succeed in, because everything we experience in this film fulfills what this subgenre promises. We get moments that raise the eyebrows and even make one have to cover their eyes, but it genuinely has an emotional center that will make some tear up because of the meaning it has on the characters. This film hits every checkpoint necessary in becoming this successful project, and Adele Lim does a tremendous job in shepherding this film to its roaring success by going all-in with the craziness imbued through the screenplay and making it as bombastic as possible.
Films with Josh 
