Joy Ride follows the familiar conventions of road-movie thrillers with enough vitality to make everything old seem new again. A confirmed master of neo-noir suspense, director John Dahl (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction) sets a consistent tone of humor and horror as Lewis (Paul Walker) and his black-sheep brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) drive from Salt Lake City to pick up Lewis's friend Venna (Leelee Sobieski) in Boulder, Colorado. En route, they play a practical joke via CB radio, inviting vengeful terror as an unseen trucker (voiced with exquisite menace by Silence of the Lambs villain Ted Levine) pursues them with relentless, homicidal aggression. Inevitable comparisons to Steven Spielberg's Duel fail to appreciate Dahl's unique talent for energizing B-movie formulas while injecting his own brand of rib-tickling excitement. While Zahn deserves extra credit in his first top-billed role, Joy Ride wins a badge of honor for everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon
(15 votes)
2.
Director John Dahl knows his way around a thriller as few contemporary filmmakers do. He revitalized the film noir with his darkly witty films, RED ROCK WEST and THE LAST SEDUCTION. With JOY RIDE, Dahl streamlines the plot and ratchets up the tension. Two brothers, Lewis (Paul Walker) and Fuller (Steve Zahn) are driving home cross-country. Fuller bullies Lewis into using the CB radio ("Prehistoric internet," Fuller calls it) to play a mean-spirited practical joke on a trucker, and it backfires horribly. The psychotic trucker comes after them, but they get away. Foolishly thinking they're out of danger, they pick up Venna (Leelee Sobieski), the girl Lewis has been pining for, on the way home. The mysterious trucker, who they know only by his CB handle, "Rusty Nail," goes further than they could ever imagine to exact his revenge. Zahn is pitch-perfect here, capturing both Fuller's charm and his stupid recklessness. Dahl builds the suspense beautifully, creating a real sense of being out on the highway in the middle of nowhere. The script, by Clay Tarver and J.J. Abrams, brings three strong characters to life with sharp, funny dialogue, fleshing out the bare bones of the plot.
(15 votes)
3.
It's summer vacation and college freshman Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) is ready to embark on a cross-country road with trip with the girl of his dreams, Venna (Leelee Sobieski). But Lewis' romantic plans are detoured when he stops to rescue his never-do-well older brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn). Fuller, notorious for causing trouble, goads Lewis into playing a practical joke on a lonely trucker over a CB radio. The trucker, an unseen and terrifying force known only by his handle, "Rusty Nail," wants the last laugh ... and revenge.
(15 votes)
4.
Get ready for the thrill-ride of a lifetime. It's all fun and games when two brothers, Lewis (Paul Walker) and Fuller (Steve Zahn), take off cross-country to bring home a pretty friend from college (Leelee Sobieski). But the jokes end when a prank backfires with horrifying results. Suddenly, the three young friends find themselves in a race for their lives on a desolate highway, stalked by a vengeful trucker who won't give up the chase until somebody winds up dead. This "first rate pure thriller" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) will leave you breathless!
(15 votes)
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