Bookshelf Battle

Raunchy Asian gals take China by storm!

BQB here with a review of the raunchy R rated girls trip comedy Joy Ride.

So, this film actually doesn’t come out until July 6 but there was a sneak preview showing at my local theater and since I have no life, I decided why not check it out. I’ll say at the outset I took the bullet on this one so you don’t have to. It is worth a rental or a stream, and sure, it had heart and some laughs but all and all, you won’t miss much if you miss it on the big screen.

Adele Lim, screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians in her directorial debut with producer Cherry Chevraparatdumarong (I’m not sure I spelled that right), she of Family Guy producer fame, join forces to give you a comedy best described as what would happen if you took a Hangover style movie but replaced the dudes with naughty Asian ladies who can’t stop talking about sex, penises, buttholes, vaginas, cocaine but occasionally they find friendship and meaning. Some of the jokes will make you laugh and some will make you groan. Some I’m not sure you’ll get unless you’re Asian as they’re somewhat Asian insidery but are fun anyway. Some you can tell are definitely coming from a disciple of Seth MacFarlane.

In the late 90s, little Audrey and Lolo (Ashley Park and Sherry Cola) become BFFS for life as the only two Asian kids in the town of White Falls, which in modern movie logic, is a terrible, horrible place because there are so many damn white people living there.

Flash forward to present times and Audrey the perfectionist has become a high-powered lawyer while Lolo waits tables at her parents’ restaurant to fund her true passion of crafting sexual art, which the viewer is treated to in excruciating detail.

With a big promotion waiting in the wings if she closes a deal in China, Audrey invites Lolo on the trip to be her translator. Tagging along on the trip are Lolo’s socially awkward yet lovable Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) and Audrey’s college roommate Kat (Stephanie Hsu), now a famous actress in China.

Upon learning that her new business associate is a family man and would be way more keen on the deal if he knew that Audrey was as into family as he is (because business deals totally rest on such things!), Audrey and friends set out on a trip across China in search of Audrey’s biological mother who gave her up for adoption years ago.

Hijinx ensue and various opportunities for hanky panky arise. TBH, from the trailer, I thought the movie was going to focus more on a fish out of water tale as American Asian women visit China and aren’t sure if they feel more out of place in America or Asia. That does come up often but the plot more or less serves as excuse for dirty jokes and naughty humor. At times, their travel plans are derailed, leaving them to hitchhike and depend on the kindness of strangers, which for a minute I thought it was going to be like Planes, Trains and Automobiles but in China but the stakes never get too high as the girls are never put into too much danger, at least nothing they can’t talk their way out of with a dirty joke.

STATUS: Shelf-worthy. Its fun and funny, with insight into the ups and downs experienced by American Asians, not to mention the struggles friends go through to keep their friendships going as they grow up.

One complaint. There’s a scene where a little kid drops an F bomb and while the other kid’s character deserved it, I’m not a fan of this Hollywood trend the past decade where people think it’s funny to have kids say bad things. IMO, the joke is never funny enough to warrant asking a kid to say that, but that’s just me.