10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5

In the past decade, no studio comedy has made a significant cultural impact. Films like Game Night, The Nice Guys, and Girls Trips have all come close, but none have reached the apex of success like 2009’s The Hangover or 2011’s Bridesmaids. By and large, comedies just haven't lived up to their optimal performance as of late.

That is until now.

Adele Lim’s (Raya and the Last Dragon) bombastic directorial debut Joy Ride is the shock to the heart audiences have been dying for. Lim also shares writing credits with the film with Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (Family Guy) and Teresa Hsiao (Fresh Off the Boat). Their delightfully raunchy script is grounded by the stellar cast. In watching the movie, audiences are gifted with the knowledge that no other actors could have achieved the magic that's on the screen. Every joke is just fun, fresh, and laugh-out-loud hysterical.

As a Chinese-born woman who was adopted by white American parents in the suburbs of Seattle, comically named White Hills, Audrey (Ashley Park, Beef) biggest struggle in life is with her identity. To distract from this, she buries herself in work. As the most competitive and hardworking lawyer at her firm, she’s offered a huge promotion and move to Los Angeles that is contingent on her closing a major business deal in Beijing. The only thing is she can’t speak Mandarin. Luckily childhood best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola, Turning Red) does.

While Audrey has been laser-focused on her career, Lolo’s attempts at making sex-postive art has gone unrecognized. Not fully grasping the business part of the trip, Lolo brings along Deadeye (Sabrina Wu, Styx & Stones), her introverted K-pop-devoted cousin. After arriving in Beijing the trio meets up with Audrey’s college best friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once) who’s transitioned from wild child to good girl Chinese soap star. Despite Lolo's efforts to convince her that the trip is the perfect opportunity to find her birth mother, Audrey is determined to keep the trip strictly business - but of course everything goes awry.

Back in 2019, following the box office success of Crazy Rich Asians, Adele Lim, who is Malaysian-Chinese and co-writer of the film, was reportedly offered 1/8th of her white co-writer’s pay to work again on the sequel. The deal was heinous and out right disrespectful, so she walked away from the project. With this egregious situation in mind, it is such a joy to see her directorial debut really hit it off with audiences. Lim protects the heart of the story while still going full throttle with the raunchy humor. The emotional backbone and care for the characters is where things truly shine. After the trip turns sideways, audiences gain a deeper understanding of each member of the group, and the film's heart shines through. The emotional beats in the third act don't undercut the film's humor, but rather it strengthens it.

Although Audrey's story and her quest to better understand her identity form the core of the film, there is no shortage of material for the other three leads. Each character’s journey is interconnected as they all look to better understand themselves. Like Lolo, who learns the importance of her nonconformity and remains unapologetic about her sexuality. Cola is exceptional in the role. She consistently hits the nail on the head with her physical comedy and sharp delivery. Hsu is another standout when it comes to physical comedy. There is a scene where her character Kat is high on cocaine, horny as hell, and performs some dirty acts with a basketball and a massage gun. In spite of the outrageousness of the material, Hsu is able to push the boundaries of her comedy without it degenerating into full depravity. Wu’s shining moment is during the airport wrap sequence. Their Chinese American remix to Cardi B’s Wet Ass Pussy is utterly ridiculous and had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Devil tongues out for Brownie Tuesday!

The majority of the plot is given away in the trailer, but the movie is still able to excite with much of its humor coming from poking fun at Asian-American stereotypes. The film never takes itself too seriously. The film is a tight 95 minutes, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for every storyline to hit their mark. It felt like some topics were hinted at but were not fleshed out to their full potential. Those feelings were confirmed by Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu in their interview with Perri Nemiroff for Collider where Hsu stated there was a gay storyline between her and Cola’s character that was edited out. She said it’ll be “saved for a sequel”, but Cola was “livid” about its removal. The tension between the two is quite palpable throughout the film, very reminiscent of the enemies to lovers trope.

Joy Ride may not reinvent the wheel, but it reinvigorates the R-rated studio comedy, overflowing with outrageous laugh out loud moments. This film is carried by the genuine heart and chemistry between its four spectacular leads; an exciting watch to share with friends in a crowded theater. My only hope is that if we are ever so lucky to get a sequel, Lim continues to color outside the lines and break out of the formula.

Movie Review: "Joy Ride" Is A Laugh Out Loud Riot