Joy Ride is a helluva movie. Basically an homage to Stephen Spielberg's 1971 made-for-TV classic Duel, it's the story of three young people being terrorized by a malevolent trucker.
On his way to pick up his girlfriend from college, Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) stops to bail his loser brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) out of jail. They pass the time by taunting a trucker on their CB radio. Of course the trucker turns out to be a psycho who terrorizes them until they finally think they've appeased him by offering him their abject apologies. But once Lewis and Fuller pick up Lewis' girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski), things start right up again with increased intensity, and the realization that this isn't just any trucker. A sense of the uncanny and possibly the supernatural starts to pervade the film. The tension is cranked up until by the end I was literally gritting my teeth and squirming in my seat.
This movie is smart, well directed, and scary as hell. My only complaint is that I really wanted Steve Zahn's character to die. Highly recommended. ***1/4/****
On his way to pick up his girlfriend from college, Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) stops to bail his loser brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) out of jail. They pass the time by taunting a trucker on their CB radio. Of course the trucker turns out to be a psycho who terrorizes them until they finally think they've appeased him by offering him their abject apologies. But once Lewis and Fuller pick up Lewis' girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski), things start right up again with increased intensity, and the realization that this isn't just any trucker. A sense of the uncanny and possibly the supernatural starts to pervade the film. The tension is cranked up until by the end I was literally gritting my teeth and squirming in my seat.
This movie is smart, well directed, and scary as hell. My only complaint is that I really wanted Steve Zahn's character to die. Highly recommended. ***1/4/****