A sweet story about family, friends, and learning to love the person you are is wrapped up with a big, vivacious, raunchy bow in director Adele Lim‘s “Joy Ride,” a raucous comedy that celebrates women embracing their inner naughtiness. This diverse, explicit, sex-positive movie is going to make a lot of people (especially misogynistic-leaning men), very, very uncomfortable, and audiences should be there for every delicious second of it. Perhaps a better title for the film would’ve been “Crazy Horny Asians.”
A once-in-a-lifetime international adventure is at hand for four Asian-American friends when they find themselves traveling across China in search of one of their birth mothers. There’s the straight-laced Audrey (Ashley Park), a career-minded legal associate on an important business trip who has stretched the truth to her boss that she is fluent in Mandarin. Needing a translator, she enlists the aid of her foul-mouthed, free spirited, irreverent bestie, Lolo (Sherry Cola), to tag along. They’ve always been an odd couple since they first met on the playground as kids, and their friendship is as strong as ever.
The group grows even larger when Lolo decides to pay a visit to her former college roommate turned popular Chinese soap star Kat (Stephanie Hsu) as well as her eccentric cousin, Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). These women couldn’t be more different, but their epic adventure becomes a bonding journey like no other.
The cast is terrific and they work well together. Each woman brings something unique to the table, and they are a delight to spend time with. Each character has something viewers can identify with, no matter how outlandish the situations get. The screenplay was written by three women (Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, and Lim), and their knack for finding the perfect balance between humor and sincerity sets the tone for the entire film. This is a female-forward project both in front of and behind the camera.
The film depicts diverse representation in a natural but refreshing and modern way. It’s not often you get to see women having fun, being bawdy, and participating in (and most of the time, instigating) all forms of debauchery. These friends are sex-obsessed and body-positive, and they aren’t held back by shame or societal standards. This translates to a film that contains explicit sexual content and language, so prudes should steer clear.
While the comedy is mostly hit or miss, the core of the story feels highly personal and heartfelt. There’s an unexpected warmth that’s buried beneath all the saucy bits, but it’s so strong that it emerges as the real star of the narrative. There are several touching moments and discussions about identity and culture, and the message about friendship and family feels universal.
“Joy Ride” doesn’t invent the classic road trip movie, but it does showcase a contemporary and progressive spin that should be welcomed by moviegoers.