Review: Joy Ride (2001)

Review Written By: Gaius Bollling

Release Date: October 5th, 2001 

Joy Ride is an entertaining little thriller that sort of got lost in the shuffle when it was released back in 2001. The film actually received good reviews upon release but it failed to generate much success at the box office. Thankfully this film found its audience on DVD because this is definitely a ride worth taking.

Joy Ride starts out innocently enough, with two brothers, Lewis (Paul Walker) and Fuller (Steve Zahn), on a cross-country road trip. Lewis, a college student on summer break, is headed to Denver to pick up his dream girl, Venna (Leelee Sobieski), to give her a ride back to New Jersey. Fuller, whom Lewis bails out of jail in Salt Lake City, is along for the ride. One of their first acts of brotherly bonding is to play a practical joke on "Rusty Nail" - the handle of a trucker they hear on the CB radio. Lewis pretends to be a woman and lures the lonely man to a motel for a rendezvous. But the practical joke turns bloody - the man staying in the room number given by Lewis is murdered, and it isn't long before the two young men find themselves being pursued, threatened, and taunted by a faceless trucker. And, although they think it's over once they reach Denver and pick up Venna, it's really just beginning. 

When Joy Ride was released it was immediately compared to Steven Spielberg's TV movie thriller, "Duel". The premises are alike in many ways and you can tell director John Dahl got a lot of inspiration from Spielberg's film. The main difference is "Duel" is more of psychological cat & mouse game while "Joy Ride" relies more on action to advance the plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because both films were made with completely different intentions. Psychological thrills worked for "Duel" and the action packed entertainment works for "Joy Ride". To be fair, "Joy Ride" does use a few psychological tricks to get into the minds of the characters, and while it's not as sophisticated as the tactics used in "Duel", it still works.

Some horror films are only as good as the central villain and Rusty Nail is certainly a force to be reckoned with. It helps that we see very little of him which adds to the mystery surrounding the character. Matthew Kimbrough plays the large hulking truck driver but the person who gives him his real menace is Ted Levine, who provides the voice of Rusty Nail. Levine is probably best known for his disturbing performance as Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs" and he brings the same sadistic nature he brought to that role. The central difference is Levine's interpretation of this role is completely calm and collected. Rusty Nail never really loses his cool and it's very clear that he's always in control.

Since Rusty Nail is mostly a voice on a CB radio, an extension of the character is the truck itself. This may seem like a ridiculous notion but the vehicle feels like its own living, breathing character. There is a moment in "Joy Ride" that has the truck pinning Lewis' car against a tree while Rusty Nail taunts them over the CB radio. The shots of the truck are so imposing that you almost think the truck has literally come to life.

The performances from the leads are quite effective. I don't know what it is about Paul Walker. Sometimes he's very awful ("Into the Blue") or he can display a decent level of talent ("Running Scared"). In this film he falls in the latter category. Lewis is the "straight man" amongst the brother duo since Steve Zahn plays the goofball, and Walkers has no problem bringing the character to life. It's not a groundbreaking performance but it works for the film. Steve Zahn is the better of the two since he manages to jump from comedy to drama pretty effortlessly throughout the film. Most importantly, they have great chemistry as brothers and they're likable enough that you care about what happens to them. The only performer who seems to be lacking is Leelee Sobieski. The main issue is the character is vastly underwritten and since she's missing from most of the film (she appears briefly early on and then later once they pick her up) she doesn't get a chance to flesh out her character. She's clearly a device in the film to have a female in peril and I suppose she serves that purpose well, but ultimately she's the weak link. 

In my review of "The Strangers" i mentioned that the release date was shuffled around a few times before it was released. This is never really a good sign since it shows the studio doesn't have much faith in the project. This ended not being true of "The Strangers" and it wasn't true for "Joy Ride" either. Joy Ride sat on the shelf for nearly a year and a half before it was released. This was allegedly due to the studio not being too sure about the film's ending. 3 were shot (all of which can be found on the DVD) but I think the right decision was made for the conclusion of the final release. It doesn't cheat the suspense that came before it and it doesn't ruin the final product. If you're curious about seeing a fairly recent horror thriller that manages to illicit some thrills, then I suggest you discover "Joy Ride" because you will not be disappointed. 

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