Joy Ride traps potential in mediocrity. It's informed about race, sexuality, femininity, body positivity, and identity. Yet, this undercooked substance is buried beneath try-hard, outrageous comedy. The film is like two incohesive stories clashing with each other. It wants to be relatable but ridiculous, progressive but formulaic, and sincere but contrived. Plus, it has unnatural dialogue, blunt exposition, cheap pop culture references, and excessive plot devices. The acting shows range, chemistry, and commitment, but they can't overcome the script's contradicting priorities. Ultimately, Joy Ride's emotions are suffocated by cliches and forced jokes, making them feel unearned.
Technically, Joy Ride is middling. Its direction has conflicting tones. The effects look pretty cheap. Its production design emphasizes feeling trendy over serving the narrative. The music has a plot point and one regional song, but is mostly irrelevant. Its sound is basic with minimal split cuts, echoing, and volume. The cinematography is flat and indistinct. Its editing uses inserts, time lapses, smash cuts, cross cuts, a short runtime, and bursts of music video style flavor, but its pacing is very rushed and undermines all the drama. Finally, the cast offers representation, mild fame, depth, cameos, and skill. Overall, Joy Ride isn't bad but it's messy and a missed opportunity.
Writing: 4/10
Direction: 4/10
Cinematography: 5/10
Acting: 6/10
Editing: 6/10
Sound: 5/10
Score/Soundtrack: 5/10
Production Design: 5/10
Casting: 7/10
Effects: 5/10
Overall Score: 5.2/10
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