Joy Ride
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: October 5, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Turns out to be the most unnerving film of the year. Easy. Read full review
90
Rolling StonePeter Travers
If you're looking to have your nerves fried and your pulse pounded, this is your ticket to ride. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Terrific escapist fare, stylish, outrageous and compelling. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Climb into this rig and you'll be sweating bullets. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Redoubtably hilarious as always, Zahn also lends his character unpredictable flashes of anger, pathos, and faint psychosis, even when the movie jumps the median from ticklishly discomfiting black comedy into by-the-numbers horror jolts. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The potential for action never lets up; you never know what's coming around the next corner.
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There is a kind of horror movie that plays so convincingly we don't realize it's an exercise in pure style. ''Halloween'' is an example, and John Dahl's Joy Ride is another. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A horror film that doesn't wear out a moment of its welcome.
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Skillfully crafted, flawlessly paced, intellectually challenging tension of classics like "Bad Day at Black Rock." Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Zigzags across the conventions of genre, occasionally driving on the shoulders of black humor -- it's a road movie for the way we process suspense today. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
Hot-wired, white-knuckle thriller. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The kicker is that Joy Ride is funny, too. In fact, it would be a superbly frightening entertainment if not for the way Dahl fixates, disturbingly, on sadistic details. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
In noir, everybody's guilty, and that's one of the pleasures of Joy Ride. The three youngsters aren't exactly innocent. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The director, John Dahl, has no intention to baffle or obscure; his objective is to scare the living daylights out of you, or, more pertinently, the dying headlights.
80
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Director John Dahl ("Red Rock West," "The Last Seduction") has a pronounced knack for snap reversals and out-of-the-blue shocks. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Joy Ride is also surprisingly funny, thanks mostly to Zahn. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
There's good pulp and bad pulp, and for most of its duration, Joy Ride is quality stuff.
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
It's a snazzy, smartly made, and even hip little scarefest. As a jump-start to Halloween, it's all you could hope for.
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Joy Ride is plenty spooky but there's also plenty of comic relief -- mostly from the perennially goofy Zahn. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A really satisfying suspenser, but also really, really fun. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Some of the plot twists don't really stand up to close scrutiny, but the sometimes over-the-top Joy Ride plows through them with such joyful glee, you don't really care. Read full review
70
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
Manages to be both astoundingly derivative and reasonably entertaining at the same time. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Much more effectively terrifying than the usual overplotted, underwritten Hollywood thriller. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
There's plenty of scary pleasure to be had from this clever, compact thriller.
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Even at its best, Ride never survives its shaky opening hook. Read full review
60
Film ThreatHeather Wadowski
Despite its few flaws, Joy Ride does take viewers on one hell of a ride. It's one of those rare films that manages to take an overused plot and breathe some sort of creativity into it. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
At some point in this endless thriller the suspense turns into an extremely unpleasant ordeal that Dahl doesn't know when to stop. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The sequel-ready twist at the end is a letdown, but until then this is a neatly constructed nail-biter. Read full review
60
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Pure, irrational, claustrophobic, gritty, unpretentious.
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Dahl, who really does know what he's doing when it comes to investing a scene with both heebies and jeebies, is a notch or two above most. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
The picture is pinched and predictable. Even with the immensely talented Steve Zahn, an actor who's known to steal scenes and, sometimes, save pictures, the movie is a yawn. Read full review
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