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Joy Ride

EMAILPRINT20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Joy Ride reviews
75
8.8 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 44 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Clay Tarver
Jeffrey Abrams

Directed by: John Dahl

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 5, 2001
DVD: March 12, 2002

Running Time: 96 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

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)

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.

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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.

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What Our Users Said

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.

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