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Capone takes the booze out for a JOYRIDE

Published at:  Sep 20, 2001 5:00:13 AM CDT

Harry here, and I'm ready... A good film from a guy good at making em. Alright, I'll see it, Capone sold me.




Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. After prying my eyes from the T.V. for several days straight, I did manage to make it to a couple films this week. Strangely enough, both of them featured the lovely Leelee Sobieski: THE GLASS HOUSE, which sucked; and JOY RIDE, which did not.


JOY RIDE focuses on Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker from FAST AND THE FURIOUS), a New Jersey college student who is in a long-distance friendship with Venna (Sobieski), a girl from he knew in his Colorado high school. The two never has a relationship in high school, but now that they‚re in college and she‚s broken up with her boyfriend, Lewis suddenly has a burning itch to go visit her. He buys a used car for the occasion and begins driving west to Colorado. Along the way, he hears from his mother who informs him that his brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn) is in jail in Salt Lake City. Lewis changes his plans slightly to bail Fuller out of jail, and the two continue on. At one of their pit stops, Fuller buys an old CB radio, and the two have fun tracking speed traps and the like. They even convince one trucker named Rusty Nail that one of them is a woman named Candy Cane, and they tempt him to a run-down roadside motel. They give him the wrong hotel room number, (next door to theirs) and when Rusty arrives, they hear an ugly commotion through the wall. When they awake the next morning, the police are swarming and they inform the brothers that their next-door neighbor is in a coma with his jaw ripped off.


Once the brothers confess to their prank, the police let them go with instructions to never return to the state of Utah again. Once on the road, they again hear Rusty Nail on the CB searching for Candy Cane. Fuller and Lewis tell that driver that their is no Candy Cane, and they soon realize that Rusty is completely psychotic and is right behind them. The rest of the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game between the three men. The brothers, believing they‚ve lost the trucker, eventually do pick up Venna, and soon she is involved in this self-created mess. The images of this massive 18-wheeler chasing their car immediately bring to mind Steven Spielberg‚s DUEL (as did parts of the recent JEEPERS CREEPERS), but this movie is almost an homage to DUEL and a good one. JOY RIDE is a true, edge-of-your-seat kind of thriller. The first half of the film (pre-Sobieski) is better than the second, although it‚s not her fault; the story just gets more outrageous and slightly less believable as it rolls on. Rusty Nail is a great faceless villain, but he also seems to be a mindreader, always knowing exactly what the brothers will do next and exactly when they‚ll do it. His timing is nothing less than impeccable.


Director John Dahl has been one of my favorites in recent years, crafting such fine works as RED ROCK WEST, THE LAST SEDUCTION, and ROUNDERS. His sense of tension and pacing is sheer perfection. Zahn and Walker have a totally realistic brotherly chemistry that is part bonding agent, part explosive. In the past, Dahl has been on the forefront of new noir cinema, but this takes him in a slightly different direction. He doesn‚t go for the easy scare or cheap thrill. In fact, most of the movie is entirely bloodless (if you don‚t count the from-a-distance shot of the jawless first victim). Instead, Dahl focuses on making us care about his leads. He recognizes that if we care about these people, we will fear for their safety and want more desperately for them to live. JOY RIDE harkens back to classic, low-budget B-movies that, on the surface, are little more than one vehicle chasing another. But Dahl directs this simple story with a great deal of style and energy. And, much like the best of the B-movies, the potential for sequel is so in your face, it‚s scary.

Capone (Click here Or Else!)

Or read my collected review at just click on Steve@theMovies



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    Readers Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 5:59:45 AM CDT

    Who's the girl?

    by sammy_jankis

    I thought it was that chick from Pay it Forward.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 6:26:53 AM CDT

    Leelee Sobiesky

    by goonie

    I don't know if I spelled her name right, but she annoys the hell out of me! Is it just me?! She is not a good actress! She is the exact same in every role. Never Been Kissed, Down to Earth, etc etc--terrible! Give me a Natalie Portman any day over this Helen-Hunt-wannabe!

    P.S. Sorry to be so negative Leelee; it's been a bad week!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 8:09:21 AM CDT

    Good intense flick

    by tenguman

    I saw this movie like half a year ago at a screening. It's a good watch... very freaky. It's just too bad they show most of the movie's plot points in the trailer. It makes me glad I saw this movie back when I knew nothing about it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 9:43:55 AM CDT

    MAYBE TEENAGE HORROR MOVIES ARE NOT DEAD AFTER ALL

    by 28

    I JUST WISH THE PREVIEW HAD GIVEN HALF THE MOVIE AWAY

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 9:56:54 AM CDT

    i think Leelee sobiesky is a good actress

    by 28

    she was Excellent as joan of arc

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 10:03:47 AM CDT

    Leelee was great

    by sammy_jankis

    in Taxi Driver, too. She looked a lot older in Silence of the Lambs and What Men Want, though. Oh, the wonders of makeup.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 12:16:33 PM CDT

    This is what a horror movie should be

    by terry_1978

    Nothing supernatural, no fantasy elements....some crazy ass trucker following you could actually happen to any of us..that's what makes it so freaking scary, man.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 20, 2001 12:48:05 PM CDT

    THE HITCHER 1.5???

    by iwishitwascool

    Actually the trailer make the film look pretty cool. When I saw it, I immediately said "There goes another 'could have been great flick'. Now that I see who directed it, it should really kick-ass. Sweeeeeeet!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Sep 23, 2001 4:34:01 PM CDT

    "Duel" still kicks ass and I loved Red Rock West.....

    by smugbug

    one of the few movies that I can sit through EVEN if it stars Nic Cage. And The Last Seduction was one of the best movies and Linda Fiorentino was completely jipped by the Academy when they did not allow her (or the movie's) nomination for an award. As for that - I'm still not interested in seeing this movie. I'll wait for the DVD......which is surprising to me, I find John Dahl's work to be very good......

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