A movie like Joy Ride probably wouldn’t have been possible a decade ago. It would have been heavily re-written by the production company to include Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and probably Maya Rudolph. I can almost see some Hollywood bigwig looking at the script and saying, “Let’s make it a sequel to Bridesmaid.”
The beauty part is that Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All at Once have shown that movies focusing on people of southeast Asian can find their audience among the general 14-year-old white male demographics Hollywood still panders to. And then there was the wonderful Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that managed to be a box office hit. Maybe it wasn’t up to the standards of previous MCU movies, but it was released while people were still avoiding movie theaters due to Covid.
Unfortunately, Joy Ride didn’t make a lot of money despite very good reviews. And this might be why Quiz Lady went to Hulu. The story focuses on a circle of friends, all of Asian ancestry, who find themselves running around China during a series of outrageous misadventures. Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) is the adoptive daughter of white parents who live in a prominent Seattle suburb. From the time she was a child, she has been besties with Lolo Chen (Sherry Cola), after meeting her at a playground.
Mainly they were the only two children of Asian ancestry at their school. While Audrey was a shy and timid person around people, Lolo, who was raised by parents who didn’t take guff off anyone, has always spoke her mind. Now adults in their 30s, Audrey is a lawyer who doesn’t get the respect she deserves from the law firm of mostly white men. And Lolo is an aspiring artist who lives in a small guest house that almost looks like those sheds you find in the parking lots of Home Depot and Lowe’s.
One day, Audrey is told that if she closes a deal with a Chinese business, it’ll be a prestigous promotion that will allow her to move to L.A. However, since she was raised by white Americans, she can’t speak much Chinese. However, Lolo can. So they take a flight across the Pacific Ocean. But Lolo invites her cousin, Vanessa or “Deadeye” (Sabrina Wu), along. Deadeye is socially awkward and obsessed with a K-pop band. They have an old friend, Kat Huang (Stephanie Hsu), from college who has become a popular Chinese actress and is engaged to a devout Christian, Clarence (Desmond Chiam). However, they know that Kat was very promiscuous in her youth.
Things go well initially with the Chinese businessman, Chao (Ronnie Chieng who has basically become the go-to Asian actor for these roles). But Chao says that for the business transaction to go through, he must know about Audrey’s birth family in China. Lolo lies and says that she’s been in contact with them. So, Chao gives Audrey time to contact her family. Lolo was able to contact the adoption agency in America and track it down to the one in China.
So, the three women from Seattle meet up with Kat for a nice trip to track down Audrey’s roots. Of course, if you’ve seen a movie like this, you know it’s not easy as they run into many obstacles along the way. They accidentally pick the wrong train cabin to use as they notice an American woman sitting there alone. They get help from former NBA player Baron Davis who has a team playing but a night with the players turns wild and well, you have to see it to believe it. You also know that when they say something about Kat having a tattoo in a very private place that eventually, it will be revealed during the most inappropriate time.
And we all know that Audrey will learn something about her mother that she didn’t want to know. Audrey will also realize that she doesn’t need to stay working at a law firm that doesn’t respect and treat her the right way. The story has been told numerous times. These road-trip movies pretty much write themselves but it’s the journey not the destination. And this is one crazy journey that will have you laughing from start to finish. The movie is written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsaio, of Family Guy, along with Adele Lim, who directs. Lim also wrote Crazy Rich Asians It was produced through Point Grey Pictures, owned by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, so you ought to know what you’re getting into.
Yes, it’s raunchy and crude at time. But Asian women need to cut loose themselves even though some things seem implausible. I’m pretty sure what happens on the train wouldn’t happen in real life. But these movies are about the suspension of disbelief. Most of the filming was done in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia. So, you don’t really believe they’re in various parts of China.
But part of the fun is seeing how the cast interact with each other. Park is perfect as the straight person to Cola’s wild antics. And Hsu, who also appeared in Shang-Chi and EEAAO, finds some laughs with her role as someone who pretends to be pompous but has a checkered past. It seems Wu is pushed to a more supporting role as Deadeye as she is mostly a reactionary role. The main focus is on Audrey, Lolo and Kat.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 