The Big Picture
- Joy Ride features a strong cast, with Paul Walker playing the straight man against Steve Zahn’s comedic role.
- Ted Levine delivers an outstanding performance as Rusty Nail, creating a terrifying and relentless villain.
- Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, Joy Ride stands out with high tension, character-driven plot, and memorable thrills.
In 2001, Paul Walker was on his way to superstardom. He'd had back-to-back supporting roles in 1999 hits Varsity Blues and She's All That, and the first Fast and the Furious movie had just been released, with Walker and co-star Vin Diesel receiving the majority of the film's praise. But it wasn't the blockbuster franchise that we know and love today yet, so Walker was still starring in smaller projects, too. One such title put him back behind the wheel just a few months after the release of The Fast and the Furious, but it's a totally different kind of thrill ride.
Joy Ride stars Walker as Lewis, a college student traveling with his brother (Steve Zahn) to pick up a friend (Leelee Sobieski) for summer break. Along the way, the two brothers play a prank over CB radio, resulting in them being ruthlessly stalked by a big rig driver (Ted Levine). Co-written and produced by J.J. Abrams at the beginning of his career, Joy Ride is a tense, terrifying road movie with a perfect cast, strong characters, and a villain that isn't just the mindless killing machine that's so common in the genre.
Joy Ride
Not Yet Rated
Mystery
Thriller
Drama
- Release Date
- October 5, 2001
- Director
- John Dahl
- Cast
- Paul Walker , Steve Zahn , Leelee Sobieski , Michael McCleery , Dell Yount , Rachel Singer , Jim Beaver , Jessica Bowman
- Runtime
- 92 minutes
- Main Genre
- Thriller
- Writers
- Clay Tarver , J.J. Abrams
- Website
- https://www.joyride.movie/
- Studio(s)
- Point Grey Pictures , Red Mysterious Hippo
- Distributor(s)
- Lionsgate
Paul Walker Plays the Straight Man Against Steve Zahn in ‘Joy Ride’
Paul Walker was known for his boyish charm, usually playing best friend roles and straight-laced characters like Skip in Pleasantville (before turning into a member of Vin Diesel’s thrill-seeking found family, of course). He’s no different in Joy Ride, where he plays a college student in California with a crush on his childhood friend. He’s so innocently in love with Leelee Sobieski’s Venna that he agrees to pick her up for summer break, despite having no car and Venna attending a college in Colorado. Frankly, Lewis is too sweet of a character to be that interesting on his own, so Joy Ride spices things up by adding a secondary character who is the exact opposite of Lewis. Enter Steve Zahn as Fuller, Lewis's chronic screwup of an older brother who has just been released from jail in Utah (and not for the first time). Zahn is a comedic actor, and at the time of Joy Ride's release, was as known for playing slackers as much as Walker was known for playing charming best friends.
The two actors' styles and personalities are vastly different, but that's exactly what makes the casting work. Zahn is perfect for the brash and obnoxious Fuller, but just as Walker's Lewis would be too square on his own, Fuller would be too over-the-top as the sole lead. Together, however, they effectively complement each other: Paul Walker's calm and steadfast demeanor works well against Zahn's hyperactive antics. And Zahn's character serves as a much more believable catalyst for the prank that leads to the suspenseful stalker element of the movie.
Ted Levine Is Criminally Uncredited as the Voice of the Villain in 'Joy Ride'
Speaking of the stalker elements, Joy Ride has an absolute standout of a villain in Rusty Nail, played by Ted Levine. Levine, who portrayed the horrifying Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs, has a very deep voice with a distinctive growling quality, which works perfectly for an antagonist whose presence is almost entirely portrayed through a CB radio. Rusty Nail is a big rig driver on whom Lewis and Fuller play a prank, pretending to be a woman who wants to meet up and have a tryst with Nail. He goes to a motel to meet the non-existent "Candy Cane" but instead finds an unsuspecting man, and things quickly become far more violent than the brothers intended. After putting the man in a coma, Rusty Nail begins stalking Lewis and Fuller, communicating with them via the CB radio in their car.
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Obviously, Rusty Nail takes his revenge to the extreme, maiming and even killing bystanders to torment the brothers. But even so, there's a clear line between their prank – which even Lewis admits was cruel immediately after they do it – and Rusty’s relentless stalking. This separates Joy Ride from other road horror movies because the antagonist has a clear reason for wanting to chase the brothers. In movies like The Hitcher, the antagonist is just a disturbed killing machine. In the case of Duel, the motivation is so unimportant that the killer isn't even seen; he's just a faceless driver behind the wheel of an ever-present truck. Senseless violence and an unknowable mind can make for a brutal sort of fun, obviously; but Joy Ride really elevates its road horror premise by building up the antagonist just as much as its protagonists.
'Joy Ride' Was Written and Directed by J.J. Abrams
On paper, Joy Ride sounds like your run-of-the-mill summer slasher aimed at teenagers. Theaters are always full of young and pretty people on the run from crazed murderers, and more often than not, these movies are quickly forgotten. But Joy Ride stands out as one of the better examples, in part due to its cast, but also to its writing. It keeps the tension high, the pacing rarely lags, and the characters are the driving force rather than bloody kills. And really, this shouldn’t be a surprise; these are all hallmarks of J.J. Abrams, the writer and producer of Joy Ride. Hot on the heels of writing the blockbuster Armageddon but just a few years before Lost made him a household name, Joy Ride is a prime example of what J.J. Abrams is best at – building excitement and memorable characters. It’s even more impressive because this is only the sixth movie J.J. Abrams ever worked on. Watching it now, it’s easy to see how he went on to have such a successful Hollywood career.
Joy Ride isn't a one-trick pony, relying on one unique aspect to make it worth watching. It knocks it out of the park on virtually every level, from Paul Walker and Steve Zahn's chemistry to the strength of its villain. It even delivers exactly what its title promises: a thrilling yet terrifying journey that will make you look twice at every big rig you see on the road from now on.
Joy Ride is available to stream in the U.S. on Paramount+.
