Friends for a long time, he has never had the nerve to let Venna know how he feels, but this should provide him with the opportunity. On the way, he stops to bail his estranged brother, Fuller, out of jail and, within a day, becomes caught in the repercussions of a prank gone bad. Over a CB radio, Lewis disguises his voice as a woman and arranges a rendez-vous at a motel with a lonely trucker. In the morning, a man is dead and Lewis and Fuller are about to discover the meaning of humiliation. A cross between Spielberg's Duel and Scream, Joy Ride offers us just that.
Good performances make the ride all the more enjoyable.
In particular, Steve Zahn turns in what has to be among his best work to date, and fans should not miss the opportunity to see him soar. The sheer energy of the guy doubles the intensity of the film, while injecting it with some of its funniest moments. Joy Ride is by no means a ground-breaking motion picture, but it cleverly reminds us that dangerous Internet chat rooms are not much different from the clogged airwaves of a couple of decades ago when a Radio Shack catalogue had three or four pages dedicated to CB radios and just as many to accessories. Danger is always out there and, if you're not careful, it will find you. Tim Conway is manager of a video store in downtown St. John's.