The writer of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, Adele Lim's, directorial debut, Joy Ride, is an outrageously bawdy road trip movie about four Asian-American female friends who travel to mainland China to close a business deal for one member of their party, but, as one might expect, the journey turns into much more than that. A lot of it having to do with sex.
The four young women at the heart of this buddy comedy --produced by the irrepressible Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This is the End, Neighbors, The Interview, etc.) -- are Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu and Stephanie Hsu.
Park's Audrey and Cola's Lolo have been friends since childhood; Wu's Dead Eye and Hsu's Kat are later but ardent additions. They have been invited along for the ride to help Park's accomplished but culturally clueless Audrey, who was adopted by a white American couple as a baby, with language translation.
Lolo, without her friend's permission, has located Audrey's birth mother in a town not far from Beijing by train and encouraged her friend to add a detour to the agenda. This turns into a near-fatal miscalculation that, in typical Rogen and Goldberg style, involves copious amounts of drugs.
The film has a writerly, high-speed, wise-cracking sensibility, which the four leads pull off effortlessly. They have amazing chemistry (no pun intended). Though for all intents and purposes this is Audrey's story, each of the equally winning principals gets an extended moment to shine -- and do they!
But beyond all of the ribaldry, the picture smartly and sensitively explores questions about racial identity, cultural authenticity and family. The picture is not just hilarious, it's also thoughtful.
I have every expectation that, as the ending suggests, we will see more of these delightfully refreshing women in future escapades (pun intended for those who have seen Joy Ride).
The four young women at the heart of this buddy comedy --produced by the irrepressible Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This is the End, Neighbors, The Interview, etc.) -- are Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu and Stephanie Hsu.
Park's Audrey and Cola's Lolo have been friends since childhood; Wu's Dead Eye and Hsu's Kat are later but ardent additions. They have been invited along for the ride to help Park's accomplished but culturally clueless Audrey, who was adopted by a white American couple as a baby, with language translation.
Lolo, without her friend's permission, has located Audrey's birth mother in a town not far from Beijing by train and encouraged her friend to add a detour to the agenda. This turns into a near-fatal miscalculation that, in typical Rogen and Goldberg style, involves copious amounts of drugs.
The film has a writerly, high-speed, wise-cracking sensibility, which the four leads pull off effortlessly. They have amazing chemistry (no pun intended). Though for all intents and purposes this is Audrey's story, each of the equally winning principals gets an extended moment to shine -- and do they!
But beyond all of the ribaldry, the picture smartly and sensitively explores questions about racial identity, cultural authenticity and family. The picture is not just hilarious, it's also thoughtful.
I have every expectation that, as the ending suggests, we will see more of these delightfully refreshing women in future escapades (pun intended for those who have seen Joy Ride).
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