Joy Ride (2001)

A huge disappointment, especially considering the excellent trailer which advertised this movie (turns out the trailer just about gave everything away!). I was expecting a tight, suspenseful chase flick with plenty of violence and bloodshed. What did I get? An edgy, middle-of-the-road, "teen" thriller complete with dumb humour, dumber situations, totally implausible scenarios (just what was up with that dumb-as-nails ending?) and many, many scenes ripped of from previous, better fare like DUEL, THE HITCHER, and BREAKDOWN.The main problem this film has is that its geared too firmly towards the "teen" market, so the plot is dumbed down, the situations overplayed and unrealistic, the humour out of place and irritating. The young characters are bland and one-dimensional, so that action man Paul Walker doesn't have a chance to make his lead anything other than a crashing bore. Steve Zahn fares a little better, injecting some life and spirit into his role as the mischievous brother, but Leelee Sobieski is generally appalling. The best actor? Ted Levine, playing the voice of trucker "Rusty Nail".Not much of this film is surprising, just contrived. Director John Dahl aims for suspense but is hindered by plot cliché after cliché, most of them liable to make you either groan or laugh. There are a couple of novel situations along the way, but not enough, and come the routine climax I could barely be bothered to continue watching. What's the point of spending money on a new movie when the end result is just a concoction of the 'best bits' of previous films, warmed up and lacking originality, depth or excitement? None, which is why I fail to rate ROADKILL as a worthwhile watch.

Three young people on a road trip from Colorado to New Jersey talk to a trucker (Ted Levine) on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychotic killer.This film is sort of like "Duel", though some or most of the action takes place outside of the car. Play a prank on a trucker and this is what might happen. Especially when the trucker has the voice of Buffalo Bill.I thought this film was great. A bit far-fetched at times, because there is no realistic way the trucker could hunt these kids down. But giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he is an expert tracker and caught their license plate at some point...

This was pretty good. Not super original or outstanding in any way but still really effective, fun and even scary at times. The horror element is well paced and Walker and Zahn have great chemistry together so that I found myself alternating between being genuinely freaked out and laughing at some well delivered line. "This CB is like a prehistoric internet or something." "Well, just how scared am I supposed to be? Much more than usual." Sometimes these simple (premise) movies without the huge budget or tons of special effects are worth catching. Paul Walker (sigh) plays a college freshman on a summer road trip to pick up his girlfriend. Along for the ride is his smart-ass brother who uses the car's CB radio to play a cruel but harmless prank on a lonely trucker known only by the handle Rusty Nail. The gag backfires though and the siblings soon find themselves on the run from a psychotic murderer, out for revenge.The creepy dude from 'Silence Of The Lambs' (Ted Levine) is the chilling voice on the CB. His voice is unmistakable and because the viewer never gets to see his face he really added to the freaky element for me. Actually I'm not even sure if its that he was so good or I'm still traumatized from his performance in Lambs.I also enjoyed Steve Zahn, usually the comedy sidekick roles annoy me but he was really good. Leelee Sobieski is mostly eye candy here, girl needs a bra too because I could not take my eyes off her boobs and I'm not even into that kind of thing, but they were right there. 1/15/15

Bar none, the best road movie since The Hitcher, Joyride, better known as Roadkill see two brothers make the fatal mistake of pranking a hitchhiker, Walker, believably masquerading as a woman, faking a voice, shows another side to his talents. I must say I was impressed, and he doesn't do a bad job, convincingly dramatic in bits. He's hounded by his older, troubled, and immature brother, Fuller (Zahn, a great comedic asset to the movie) who keeps landing in the nick. This time, even he knows he gone too far, this prank may'be costing him the rest of his life. The psychotic trucker, who goes by the name of Rusty Nail, ends up basically playing a relentless stalking game, showing them, the much fatal error of their ways, after pranking them with a sexual rendezvous at this motel, the brothers stay at overnight. When you think about it, the brothers must of been pretty dumb to leave the c.b. in sight where Rusty Nail would of seen it, and added up the dots, although they weren't expecting him to be a nut, even though, he weirded out Walker in bits earlier, and he's quick, like a pussy, to ring the manager, when they hear a ruckus nextdoor, with Walker's character, looking worried or tense, even before that. while big brother is laughing his arse off. This movie than runs high on a good flow of suspense, and a bit of disturbing violence, has been well crafted, successfully terrifying viewer, with a great plot. Rusty Nail's intentions so clear, like Max Cady, he's gonna keep tormenting these people, where in 2002, I myself, dealt, with a similar situation, but on a much smaller scale. The performances are good, yes even Walker, Rusty Nail's voice, of course that of Ted 'Silence Of The Lambs', who also worked with Walker, in the first Fast And Furious, which Levine fits those terms definitely. The climax is intoxicatingly suspenseful, it's most richest, as if we've had so much tension and suspense already. The twist of ending reinforces the tragic error, their prank has cost them, where there's a message there too. A road movie better than you expect, and Dahl throws some nice shots in, one close up in slow motion, favouring girlfriend, Sobieski's goods. Her collegiate roommate, Bowman, mesmerizingly hot. Don't overlook it.