Joy Ride

Turns out to be the most unnerving film of the year. Easy.

A horror film that doesn't wear out a moment of its welcome.

Director John Dahl ("Red Rock West," "The Last Seduction") has a pronounced knack for snap reversals and out-of-the-blue shocks.

Some of the plot twists don't really stand up to close scrutiny, but the sometimes over-the-top Joy Ride plows through them with such joyful glee, you don't really care.

Joy Ride is also surprisingly funny, thanks mostly to Zahn.

Pure, irrational, claustrophobic, gritty, unpretentious.

The picture is pinched and predictable. Even with the immensely talented Steve Zahn, an actor who's known to steal scenes and, sometimes, save pictures, the movie is a yawn.

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Doesn't really make any sense but possibly a class above most horror films.

Quite a few scenes in this movie were edge of your seat, nail biting moments. The movie unraveled, with hills and valleys, pretty well until the end. For some reason this movie got my adrenaline going and then I fell a little flat. I had to ask myself if 5 minutes of the film was strong enough to disappoint me after watching the previous hour and a half? I think, yes.

Un road movie à la Duel et à la Hitcher qui pioche volontiers de ci de là dans ces deux classiques pour faire monter la mayonnaise... sauf que notre équipée de branques (les frérots gogols et la blonde sans cervelle) sont bien loin de donner toute la crédibilité nécessaire à ce thriller qui met beaucoup de temps à démarrer. Sans même parler de jeu d'acteur ou d'actrice... Paul Walker est un cave certes mais le mongolo Steve Zahn qui l'accompagne met à mal le film en entier par sa stupidité et sa crasse nullité de débile profond fraîchement diplômé. Lorsqu'enfin le film se met en route et que le psychopathe les poursuit, on a perdu presque toute la motivation nécessaire et ce, jusqu'à la fin qui abuse de grosses ficelles un brin élimées... Malgré paradoxalement la bonne réalisation de John Dahl, cette virée vire donc à la catastrophe et au ridicule à l'insu de son plein gré. Eminemment regrettable.

The first 30 minutes of setup are so egregiously bad. One inexplicably terrible decision after another, car physics that would make fast and the furious blush, and horrible dialogue and situations that will make you cringe so painfully bad you'll wish you will cry out in agony and wish you were dead. It doesn't let up one minute through to the end. It just casually continues to get worse, accelerating without mercy or reason and cleverness until settling on the mindnumbingly absurd. You will hate yourself for watching thus movie. Just don't do it.