Joy Ride (2001)
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Two brothers and their friend are hunted by a psychopathic trucker after a prank goes wrong on the radio.
The story
While traveling from California to Colorado to pick up his childhood friend and crush Venna, Lewis Thomas reluctantly stops in Salt Lake City after he learns his estranged brother Fuller has been arrested. Lewis bails him out and Fuller tags along for the ride. Fuller has a CB radio installed in Lewis's car and the two begin listening in on truckers' chatter. Fuller coaxes Lewis into playing a prank on a truck driver nicknamed Rusty Nail, asking him to pretend to be a woman named Candy Cane. They set up a meeting with Rusty Nail in a motel where Lewis and Fuller are spending the night.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
While traveling from California to Colorado to pick up his childhood friend and crush Venna, Lewis Thomas stops in Salt Lake City to bail out his brother Fuller. During the trip, the brothers use a CB radio to prank a truck driver named Rusty Nail by pretending to be a woman named Candy Cane. After a series of escalating incidents, Rusty Nail begins hunting them. The brothers eventually reach Colorado and pick up Venna, but Rusty Nail discovers their location and begins a deadly game of cat and mouse. He kidnaps Venna's friend, Charlotte, and lures the group into a series of traps. In the climax, the group is forced to flee a motel as Rusty Nail's truck crashes into it. While the characters are treated for injuries, they learn that the man in the truck was a bystander and that Rusty Nail is still alive and free.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Dahl
- Writers
- Clay Tarver · writer; J. J. Abrams · writer
- Cast and characters
- Steve Zahn; Paul Walker; Leelee Sobieski
- Genres
- road thriller; mystery thriller; psychological thriller
- Themes
- consequences of pranks; survival
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful; dark comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; serial killer; sibling bond
- Franchise connections
- Joy Ride
- Content notes
- R-rated
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was described as a 'white-knuckle thriller' and 'terrific escapist fare.'
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 75 · scale: 100 · review count: 31
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Awards · Best Action, Adventure, or Thriller Film · Nomination
- Production trivia
- There are several alternate endings available on the DVD release.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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