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Joy Ride
20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Joy Ride reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 75 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.8 out of 10
based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 44 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for violence/terror and language

Starring Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski, Matthew Kimbrough, Jim Beaver, and Rachel Singer

A contemporary thriller that finds darkness laced with humor in the heartland of America. (20th Century Fox)


GENRE(S): Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Clay Tarver
Jeffrey Abrams
 
DIRECTED BY: John Dahl  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: March 12, 2002 
Video: March 12, 2002 
Theatrical: October 5, 2001 
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Turns out to be the most unnerving film of the year. Easy.
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90
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Climb into this rig and you'll be sweating bullets.
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90
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
If you're looking to have your nerves fried and your pulse pounded, this is your ticket to ride.
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90
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Terrific escapist fare, stylish, outrageous and compelling.
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90
Village Voice Jessica Winter
Redoubtably hilarious as always, Zahn also lends his character unpredictable flashes of anger, pathos, and faint psychosis, even when the movie jumps the median from ticklishly discomfiting black comedy into by-the-numbers horror jolts.
Read Full Review
88
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
A horror film that doesn't wear out a moment of its welcome.
88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
There is a kind of horror movie that plays so convincingly we don't realize it's an exercise in pure style. ''Halloween'' is an example, and John Dahl's Joy Ride is another.
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88
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
The potential for action never lets up; you never know what's coming around the next corner.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Skillfully crafted, flawlessly paced, intellectually challenging tension of classics like "Bad Day at Black Rock."
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83
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Zigzags across the conventions of genre, occasionally driving on the shoulders of black humor -- it's a road movie for the way we process suspense today.
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80
LA Weekly F. X. Feeney
Director John Dahl ("Red Rock West," "The Last Seduction") has a pronounced knack for snap reversals and out-of-the-blue shocks.
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80
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
The director, John Dahl, has no intention to baffle or obscure; his objective is to scare the living daylights out of you, or, more pertinently, the dying headlights.
80
Variety Joe Leydon
Hot-wired, white-knuckle thriller.
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80
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
The kicker is that Joy Ride is funny, too. In fact, it would be a superbly frightening entertainment if not for the way Dahl fixates, disturbingly, on sadistic details.
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80
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
In noir, everybody's guilty, and that's one of the pleasures of Joy Ride. The three youngsters aren't exactly innocent.
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75
Boston Globe Jay Carr
It's a snazzy, smartly made, and even hip little scarefest. As a jump-start to Halloween, it's all you could hope for.
75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Joy Ride is also surprisingly funny, thanks mostly to Zahn.
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75
Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
There's good pulp and bad pulp, and for most of its duration, Joy Ride is quality stuff.
75
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Joy Ride is plenty spooky but there's also plenty of comic relief -- mostly from the perennially goofy Zahn.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A really satisfying suspenser, but also really, really fun.
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75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Some of the plot twists don't really stand up to close scrutiny, but the sometimes over-the-top Joy Ride plows through them with such joyful glee, you don't really care.
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70
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
There's plenty of scary pleasure to be had from this clever, compact thriller.
70
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Much more effectively terrifying than the usual overplotted, underwritten Hollywood thriller.
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70
New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
Manages to be both astoundingly derivative and reasonably entertaining at the same time.
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63
USA Today Mike Clark
Even at its best, Ride never survives its shaky opening hook.
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60
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
At some point in this endless thriller the suspense turns into an extremely unpleasant ordeal that Dahl doesn't know when to stop.
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60
Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Pure, irrational, claustrophobic, gritty, unpretentious.
60
Film Threat Heather Wadowski
Despite its few flaws, Joy Ride does take viewers on one hell of a ride. It's one of those rare films that manages to take an overused plot and breathe some sort of creativity into it.
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60
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The sequel-ready twist at the end is a letdown, but until then this is a neatly constructed nail-biter.
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50
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Dahl, who really does know what he's doing when it comes to investing a scene with both heebies and jeebies, is a notch or two above most.
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42
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
The picture is pinched and predictable. Even with the immensely talented Steve Zahn, an actor who's known to steal scenes and, sometimes, save pictures, the movie is a yawn.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 44 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

sneki r. gave it a7:
Brilliant (also their official cite) but it is litlle predictive.

Jake B. gave it a10:
I thought the girl was hot.

Norman O. gave it a10:
It had me ticked that the Truck Driver got away but the whole show had me in the pit of my stomache and I can't wait for the sequel!

Susi gave it a10:
I just love this movie! thrilling and also funny (just thinking of the scene where the 2 guys have to go naked in a shop) And all the bonus stuff on the DVD....it's all amazing!!! Really worth watching!!!

Amanda G. gave it a 10:
I thought this movie kept you on the edge of your seat. When is Joy Ride 2 coming out thought?

Raman G. gave it a 10:
Scary.

Stephanie L. gave it a 10:
I loved the movie! Very edge of your seat and has comedy and great actors. The ending was a bit confusing though...but i can't wait for the sequel.

Read more user comments...

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