Joyride (1997)

Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

A lot of fun.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This film is good enough to purchase. Not a ground breaking film, but a well composed one, which makes it special considering how difficult it is to find those. The common film watcher will not enjoy this, no more that they would enjoy listening to His Name Alive on a Saturday evening. It would also help if the viewer understood the meaning/message of the story, or even resonated with the characters a little.ProsI knew the script might've been an issue when I saw the writer, but when your acting cast is solid enough to support the greener members, it pans out. This would be a good example of when not to blame the writer, or the dialog, it's delivery.There's "flow", simply meaning that there were no long blank spots of "when is something going to happen" or large missing pieces of the story that makes you feel as if entire segments of the screenplay where chopped out at the last minute, making you say "I think there was suppose to be a connecting scene there". I hate it when films do this, and I've seen bigger budget film completely screw up because there are too many hands in the story and no one can keep it straight. This is why I always give Director/Writer films special attention, simply because it gives them the power they need to see their vision through to the end.Thank you Ivo Watts-Russell for the splendid OST, literally already had almost every song that played. I imagined a movie that ended with a Dif Juz top 10, just didn't think it was out there, but here it is. Well done. I always say that the music makes the movie. It's the element that people often ignore, but only when broken down do the realize how crucial it is.ConsWilson Cruz's acting came off very "Disney" (So scripted it was almost comic). I tried many times to excuse it, telling myself that this is how it was supposed to be, "this is his role", "this is what they wanted". I like to believe there's a measure of logic behind these things, not in this case. Christina Zilber's acting came off the same way, but with hints of "I'm not really an actor", which is understandable considering she isn't, actually Joyride could be considered her only feature. She wasn't horrible, just decent enough to tolerate.In some scenes, you would expect something to happen, and it does, but not the they way you were expecting, which is how it should've happened. An example of this is in the mirror shattering scene where she hits the ceiling light instead of throwing something onto the mirror causing a dramatic shatter... only to (moments later) hit the same mirror with her hand, causing several cracks, but no shatter. That was a very disappointing build up.There were a few scenes where a little extra dialog could've gone a long way, for example, one scene where someone ask J.T "have you seen/done/gone to xyz" and Tobey responds with a simple "not really", if you saw the movie, you would hear these missed opportunities, as if he meant to say "No, not recently", that one change would've added so much to the scene, and a few others where the dialog sounds as if it were cut short, not that what was already there wasn't good, it just could've been better.I've seen some trash Sci-fi productions receive more praise than this film. I think people are upset because of the trailer, honestly, that trailer does no justice to the movie at all. It panders to people looking for a certain flavor, but doesn't deliver, merely because it can't. I only found this movie when reviewing the filmography relationships of the cast members, a tailored search that doesn't tend to disappoint me.7/10

I watched this the other night purely because there was nothing else on. I am actually dumbfounded as to how inanely bad this movie is. The sad part is, almost ever actor in here has been in much better movies. Tobey Maguire(Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit), Wilson Cruz (Party Monster), and perhaps the biggest shame of them all Benecio Del Toro (Traffic, The Way of the Gun).The acting was god awful, the script was absolute messy non sense, the story: b o r i n g and it made no sense. I've seen better films from student filmmakers.Look I know that every actor has to cut his acting chops on something but there are thousands of better ways to do it than this film, which felt more like a cheap low budget porno with a she-assassin and a few cops thrown in on the side. Not one character in this convoluted mess reacts like anyone would in real life to the situations they find themselves in. For example: I'd be pretty freaked out if I found a dead guy in the truck of a car, Tobey and company look at him as though he's nothing more than a spare tire. Seriously not one yelp. The only actor who even attempts to do anything resembling acting is Del Toro as your stereotypical police detective, and he's not in the film nearly enough I suppose that's good for his resume though considering. Avoid at all costs!!

I watched this film as a bet that I couldn't get through the full hour and a half. But I did, and now I can warn you. It's absolutely amateur and filled to the brim with continuity errors, but it is oh so much fun. Tobey Maguire's accent is strangely evolving throughout the film, but makes for a fun guessing game on what he's trying to accomplish. Benicio del Toro is absolutely careless, but he could very well be the best part of the whole thing. If you must watch it, be wary of some strange nudity and don't worry when the screen becomes blurry; that isn't your tired eyes unable to focus, that's the "cinematography." Also, watch the level in lighting to see how quickly day and night alternate throughout those precious 93 minutes.

Tobey Maguire had to start somewhere before becoming Spiderman. His acting is quite good even if his aimless and clueless character makes no sense. Here's the plot: a motel owner's son hooks up with a hooker tenant, hangs out with his gay buddy (who seems to have a crush on him) and steals a car from an icy villainess assassin. Then a lot of other plot points occur that have nothing to do with each other. The first half is OK but then quickly disintegrates into this tangled non-sensical mess. Wilson Cruz does his best as Tobey's gay friend but his acting is too good for the amateurish script. Adam West as a father who pimps his daughter is an interesting stunt cast but who cares by the end. I bought the DVD for five bucks and paid about $4.79 too much.