Joy Ride

Last night I went to an advance screening of Joy Ride at the Broadway (there have been a lot of early screenings for this around town but I always like to support the Salt Lake Film Society whenever I can) and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes and then I had tears in my eyes for real!  Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) was adopted from China as a baby and her Caucasian parents encouraged her to befriend Lolo Chen (Sherry Cola), the only other Chinese-American child in the neighborhood.  She is now a high-powered lawyer in an exclusive firm and, when she is sent to China to close an important deal, she brings the ne'er-do-well Lolo with her to translate and Lolo invites her eccentric cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) along for the ride.  In China they meet up with Audrey's college friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu), who is now a famous actress, and eventually decide to find Audrey's birth mother to impress her prospective client. When they run afoul of a drug smuggler and are removed from a train without their passports, they are forced to take a wild cross-country trip and hi-jinks ensue (my favorite is when they try to board a private jet by impersonating K-pop stars).  This is hilariously outrageous (some might find it too raunchy but I laughed out loud through the whole thing) but it also has a lot of heart with really affecting themes of friendship, empowerment, and identity.  There is an incredibly moving scene near the end about knowing where you come from that took me by surprise because it is so tender.  Each of the four characters (who are very different and defy many Asian stereotypes) have compelling arcs and the actresses playing them are fantastic with great comedic timing and genuine chemistry with each other.  It won't be for everyone (it is definitely a hard-R) but it is a really fun movie to see with a big crowd and I recommend it to fans of these kinds of comedies.