Joy Ride

This much awaited comedy written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao – both of whom have extensive experience as writers for TV series such as Family Guy – delivers a great script. Filled with a lot of outlandish scenes, and dialogue which has already gone viral online due to its sheer hilarity and craziness, it’s everything you would expect from such skilled writers. There’s a fine line between such ridiculous dialogue being funny or just weird and slightly off-putting, but this film walks the line perfectly to ensure that every single line hits. This is down in no small part to the proficient cast who sell every scene, putting forth convincing performances which manage to make even the stranger pieces of dialogue still feel grounded. They make up a group of varied yet close friends, making this a very relatable watch that only amplifies the comedy, as you can see yourself and your friend group in a lot of these situations. This is the perfect film to bring your new or old friends to, but even on a solo viewing this is an absolutely hilarious film.

The story follows Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) who, although born to Chinese parents, was adopted by white parents and lives in Seattle with her childhood best friend Lolo Chen (Sherry Cola). Despite being so different, with Audrey being an overachieving lawyer and Lolo being an artist, they are still incredibly close. Audrey and Lolo take a trip to China along with socially-awkward Vanessa (Sabrina Wu), so Audrey can close a deal with a Chinese businessman, knowing that if she can close this deal, she will make partner at her prestigious law firm. Upon arriving in Beijing, they are joined by Audrey’s old college roommate and friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu) who works as an actress and will soon marry her co-star Clarence (Desmond Chiam). The Chinese businessman says that he must know about Audrey’s birth family if he is to do business with her, but as Audrey has never met her birth parents, she and her friends set out on a journey to her old adoption agency to find her birth parents. With the journey not going to plan at all, it makes for a hilarious journey all about friendship and family. An incredibly fun watch and a great comedy film which will certainly go down as a classic of the genre!

James Patt