Despite ending, 'Joyride'
provides enjoyable thrills
 By
Jeff Cantwell
Staff Writer
Pranks. Everyone is guilty of them at one point
or another. Maybe you called your neighbor and asked him if his refrigerator
was running. But what if that man, enraged by his humility, hunted you
down and people around you began to die.
"Joyride" begins with a simple prank, and then
comes the killing.
A college student named Lewis (Paul Walker) is
off to pick up his would-be girlfriend, Venna (Leelee Sobieski), and
on the way pays the bail for his brother Fuller (Steve Zahn). The three
are heading on a cross-country road trip to their hometown.
Goaded by his brother, Lewis pretends to be a girl
and leads on a trucker that goes by the handle of Rusty Nail. Rusty
is humiliated by the CB prank and seeks his revenge.
"Joyride" continues down the road laid out by the
recent trend of teenage horror flicks, but quickly separates itself
from the pack.
The director, John Dahl ("Rounders"), cuts his
film with a fast and extremely tense pace, and keeps the movie going
like an Indy car at the 500. He even manages to pull off a few shocks.
What really makes "Joyride" work is the character
development.
Clay Tarver and Jeffrey Abrams have crafted a script
that provides crisp and clever dialog, while zigzagging across the line
between black humor and horror/suspense.
A sense of empathy is developed with the characters,
unlike most horror flicks where the audience just waits apathetically
for the next death. When Fuller is going behind Lewis's back and trying
to seduce Veena, there is an overwhelming desire for Lewis to catch
him.
All the actors perform strongly here, but Zahn
remains the standout. His character goes from a smart-mouthed know-it-all
punk, to playing it scared with little difficulty.
But all good things come to an end, and so with
the ending of "Joyride", comes the ending of the positive aspects of
the film. The ending is supposed to be an abrupt shock, but it's not
and it's barely an ending.
"Joyride" is a Corvette convertible cruising through
beautiful country roads that doesn't see the cliff at the end of the
road and drives right off.
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