It doesn't often happen that a young actor outshines a veteran Hollywood laureate as easily as Charlie Reid does in Joyride. Playing a jolly and good-hearted, albeit almost Mary Stu-ish character, he gives an amazing performance and makes an enjoyable sparring duo with Olivia Colman. The two's relationship and acting are undoubtedly the highlights of the movie, which, while starting promising and strong, teeters off through its sluggish final act into a somewhat forced feel-good all-is-well ending. Despite its flaws, it was overall a decent and enjoyable movie and I do not regret watching it. 6.5 from me.
Plot summary
12-year-old Mully has lost his mother and discovers his debt-ridden father stealing the charity money they've raised in her name. Grabbing the cash, Mully steals a taxi and is shocked to find a woman, Joy, in the back seat with a baby. A straight-talking solicitor who didn't expect to get pregnant, Joy is struggling with motherhood and planning to give her baby to a friend who will raise the child as her own. She joins Mully on a wild journey across Ireland, stealing cars, hitch-hiking, catching ferries and breaking police barricades.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 29, 2022 at 05:57 PM
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The kids are all right
Definitely worth a watch
The plot is definitely messy at time's and it's probably a wee bit smultzy in places.
However it's a charming film with great acting.
Probably more a TV film than one for the cinema.
Definitely worth a watch though.
Confused but Real Life
Dramatic, minimalistic, colorful. Slow moving with up and coming direction with Olivia Coleman's phenomenal acting. Also Charles Reid might be the best child actor I've ever seen. Very real life situations where some actually behave erratic under duress or indecisiveness. The shortcomings were covered, though not fully by superb acting of nearly all of the small cast which was sufficient for this production. Weaknesses were the plot(s) and clueless objectives. Also Olivia was a bit stereotyped for the role after her performance in The Lost Daughter. Cinematography could have been better especially given the countryside backdrop.