from Crazy rich Asians just crazy good Joy Ride is the best comedy ensemble film of Bridesmaids and The hangover, and swings the pendulum so far that it’s antithetical to almost every mainstream Asian narrative you’ve seen before.
Joy Ride follows four unlikely friends – Asian adoptee Audrey (Ashley Park, Emily in Paris, “The one in charge”), her longtime best friend Lolo (Sherri Cola, good problem “The Mouthy One”), Lolo’s eccentric cousin Deadeye (stand-up comedian Sabrina Wu, “The Chaotic One”) and Chinese soap opera star Kat (Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu, Everything everywhere and at once“The Sorta Famous One”) — of an international adventure turned sideways.
Loosely based on actual “buddies in a hot mess,” screenwriters Cheri Chevapravatdumrong (family man) and Teresa Hsiao (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens) wrote the screenplay for Crazy rich Asians co-writer Adele Lim in her directorial debut here.
The film also stars Ronnie Chieng (crazy rich asians)Lori Tan Chin (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens) David Denman (Greenland)and “thirst traps” Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Alexander Hodge (uncertain), and Chris Pang (Crazy rich Asians).
Adele Lim on the merry-go-round of her directorial debut
After co-writing the screenplay for the Disney animated film Paradise and the last dragonshared Adele Lim during the Joy Ride SXSW premiere that she just wanted to “tell dick jokes.”
Cheri, Teresa, and I would go out to dinner, shoot shit, and talk about all our confused, thirsty, ridiculous friends. One day we were cracking up thinking we should write a movie about it. We don’t know who will want to do this, but it will make us happy.
Lim, Chewapratdumrong, and Hsiao would quickly learn that their story made other people laugh out loud, too, and found production partners in Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Point Gray Pictures. Lim was approached to direct shortly after Lionsgate signed on to produce and distribute the film.
Stephanie Hsu goes from Joy to Joy Ride
Beyond an over-the-top, laugh-out-loud road trip film filled with one delightfully spine-tingling and raunchy moment after another in a solid 92 minutes, Joy Ride also brings a heartfelt story about friendships, identity and belonging in a way that any audience can enjoy. Well, the jury’s still out on whether their grandmother should see the movie, said Hsu, who also talked about the Wild Ride premiere Joy Ride at SXSW just five days after Everything everywhere and at once swept the Oscars, in our MovieWeb interview:
It was simply amazing to see how much had happened in one year. The fact that Everything Everywhere All At Once actually won an Oscar and had the year it had, it almost feels perfect that something like Joy Ride is hitting our screens because it completely swings the pendulum in the other direction and opens the box that feels so exciting. Yes, we can do prestige, but we can also have a damn good time and make you laugh.
The Appearance of Asian Americans in Popular Film
For a long time, the Asian community had very little to refer to when it came to the variety of blockbuster hits. So few, in fact, that there is often pressure for any film centered around a majority Asian cast to be Oscar-worthy “good” or need a flawless “presentation.” There is also this prayer that happens just as moviegoers in the AANHPI community sit down to watch a movie: “Dear God, please let this be a good movie.” If nothing else, this should prove to Hollywood that stories surrounding the Asian diaspora are banking.
Specifically as an Asian American woman, I wanted to see more representation other than the exhausting abundance of “rich Asian” content that followed Crazy rich Asians in 2018, or the impact Everything everywhere and at once (rightly) had both culturally and cinematically quite recently. I personally wanted to see the Asian woman break free from the stereotypical “submissive” and “timid” roles, whether they be about filial reverence and “saving face” or unbridled and fun versions of themselves. And girl, it does Joy Ride deliver.
This film enables and encourages four incredibly talented individuals who have mostly played supporting characters on popular TV shows (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Emily in Paris, Good Problems), to take a place, front and center, as presenters. From consuming and pushing large quantities of drugs in places where the sun don’t shine, to scoring goals (sexually) with an entire basketball team led by Baron Davis, this R-rated instant classic with cultural twists (and surprise guests) which places an unapologetically messy, chaotic, funny and obscene woman in the foreground.
Sherry Cola and Ashley Park hope the Joy Ride is just the beginning of the conversation
Aside from all the wild fun that happens throughout the film, friendship and belonging are major themes that keep the story well balanced, namely with Cola and Park’s characters Lolo and Audrey, as the film opens with them instantly becoming the most good friends instead of racists the misfortune of being called “ching-chong” by a young boy on the playground. In response, young Lolo punches him right in the face, almost intentionally meaning it Joy Ride is about to be very different from what you expected, and these characters are about to follow suit.
About what Park hopes for Joy Ride add to the mixture:
As much as we talk about breaking down barriers, or [Joy Ride] since it’s the first of its kind, hopefully this is just the beginning of the conversation, you know?
On a personal note, after interviewing and covering so many stories in the Asian American community over the past 13 years, it brings me so much joy to finally see a film like Joy Ride hit the big screen for all viewers to enjoy. As Hsu says, it’s a huge pendulum swing in the right direction that opens up the conversation for additional stories of all kinds to be told, and I’m here for that.
Grab your friend group and watch Joy Ride in theaters everywhere July 7.