Review: Roadkill/Joy Ride

Paul Walker has the hots for long-time bestie Leelee Sobieski, who has just split up with her boyfriend. Being a desperado, Walker buys himself a shitbox (from a car dealer played by a wasted Basil Wallace), and plans on driving from California to Colorado where she’s at college…and then Walker gets a call that his ne’er do well brother (Steve Zahn) got himself thrown in jail. His plans to meet up with the object of his affections temporarily halted, Walker goes to bail the drunken idiot out. Stopping at a gas station, idiot Zahn manages to buy a cheap CB radio for god knows what reason, and before long they’re messing around with burly truckers like ‘Rusty Nail’. They play with the trucker by pretending to be a woman and arrange a hotel rendezvous with promises of pink champagne a few rooms down from their own temporary sleeping accommodations, hoping to get a good laugh later on that night. The next morning, however, the cops have turned up because the person who actually was staying in Room 17 ended up brutally slain. And that’s just the beginning, as Rusty Nail is not someone who likes to be fucked with, and he’s set on making the two young men’s lives a living hell (They also pick up Sobieski at some point). First they rub the lotion on its skin or else they get the hose. Jim Beaver has an amusing cameo as a frankly pissed off local lawman.

 

Why on Earth director John Dahl is mostly stuck on TV these days is beyond me (He has directed episodes of everything from “Californication” and “Dexter”, to “House of Cards”). I know TV dramas are every critic’s darling at the moment, but there was a time when John Dahl really seemed like he was gearing up to be a force to be reckoned with in particularly noirish cinema. I was particularly fond of “Rounders” and the twisty and darkly humorous “Red Rock West”, both very underrated films. Meanwhile, just about every critic salivated over “The Last Seduction”. Released elsewhere in 2001 and commonly titled “Joy Ride”, this 2002 genre flick seemed to be Dahl’s attempt at a mainstream hit, and indeed was pretty successful. I like it quite a bit myself, and I really hope that cinema and John Dahl aren’t quite done with one another just yet (As of 2016, his last non-TV movie was 2007’s “You Kill Me” with Sir Ben Kingsley).

 

Basically “Duel” crossed with “The Hitcher”, this is a fine B-movie with a particularly fun opening 30 minutes. The sequels seemed to take more inspiration from the final 20 minutes or so of action/thriller stunts, but for me it’s the opening portion that is the strongest part. A lot of the reason for this is the Stephen Geoffreys in “Fright Night” levels of hilarious obnoxiousness that Steve Zahn brings to his role of the ne’er do well brother here. This is one guy you do not want in your life, let alone want to be related to. He’s always gonna end up getting you both in deep shit. Ted Levine doesn’t get to show his face in the film, but is a perfect choice to voice the sinister, creepy Rusty Nail. There’s more than enough bass in that voice to have you hoping you never get to meet the face that goes along with it. There’s more sinister intimidation in that voice of his alone than a lot of actors have in their entire being. Don’t believe me? Think of it this way: Eric Stoltz and Eric Roberts also auditioned for the part. Can you imagine either of their voices for Rusty Nail? Hell to the freaking no. Also worth a mention is the creepy dread brought early on by composer Marco Beltrami (“Scream”, “Jonah Hex”, “Repo Men”), and it has been very well-shot and lit by Jeffrey Jur (who was the DOP on 24 episodes of TV’s “Dexter”). That cornfield scene in particular looks amazing and the composition of shots is particularly choice, too with moments where you’re given a little nudge to look in the rear-view of the vehicle.

 

There’s no doubt that the screenplay by J.J. Abrams (director of “Mission Impossible III”, “Star Trek”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Clay Tarver (who later wrote three episodes of TV’s “Silicon Valley” and practically nothing else) has a bit of clunky plotting/structure to it. The Leelee Sobieski character is only fully integrated into the film after about 45 minutes, which really does play awkwardly. It’s for me the one flaw with the whole film, through no fault of Sobieski who is fine (Where the hell has she been? Talk about a career that just sorta dropped off). Having said that, it’s still not as much of an issue as you might expect from a film that featured reshoots and several credited editors. It plays a lot better than it could’ve, at least. Although I’m particularly fond of the opening stanza of the film, I still have to commend Dahl for continually finding ways of keeping the audience on edge, giving us possible suspects either in human or vehicular form so that we can never quite settle down. Even simple truck lights have you a little unnerved. So even when the plotting isn’t at its best, the director manages to keep things afloat.

 

This is no “Duel” or “Roadgames”, but it’s about the next best thing. A really solid genre movie with some tension, a good look and sound, memorable villain, and an amusingly offbeat Steve Zahn for comedic relief. Hell, even the late Paul Walker is fine enough. This is good stuff for what it is.

 

Rating: B-