Joyride (1977)

Director:

Joseph Ruben

Writers:

Peter Rainer (writer)
Joseph Ruben (writer)

Release Date:

June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It was fun... while it lasted!

Plot:

Four teenagers leave Los Angeles and drive north, wind up breaking into a house in Alaska. |

Plot Keywords:

Alaska | Female Nudity | Poverty | Money | Robbery

Cast

Desi Arnaz Jr.	...	Scott
Robert Carradine	...	John
Melanie Griffith	...	Susie
Anne Lockhart	...	Cindy Young
Tom Ligon	...	Sanders
Cliff Lenz	...	Henderson
Robert Loper	...	Simon Williams
Diana Grayf	...	Rhonda
Diane O'Mack	...	Debbie
Susan Ludlow	...	Personnel Lady
Ted D'Arms	...	Site Manager
Gail Rosella	...	Cashier
Richard Mazzola	...	Car Salesman
Michael O'Neill	...	Henderson's Assistant
Duncan Maclean	...	Diner Owner

Runtime:

Argentina:93 min | Germany:90 min | USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Hood Canal Bridge, Washington, USA

Company:

Joyride Productions

Soundtrack:

Rockaria!

Aimless youth, Aimless movie.

A pre-Nerd Robert Carradine, a pre-Automan Desi Arnaz Jr., and an almost pre-pubescent Melanie Griffith take to the road and head for Alaska with romantic dreams of becoming wealthy salmon fishers. Well, their dream is about as exciting as this lackluster youth road movie. They aren't particularly interesting, and the film doesn't exactly have much of a point, beyond `We got together the spawn of some famous people and made a low budget film about their misadventures.' Out of the cannon of 60's and 70's road films and rebel youth films, this one is mediocre, under developed, uninvolving characters, not much wit, not much freshness to the story, which is as bland as the films muddy landscape.

But, for those who care- They head to Alaska, and apparently Alaska was like the Wild West in the 70's because everyone carries a gun and is rough and tumble. Robert Carradine says charming things like `I hope we can find a shower, my nuts sure itch.' (And he's the one with Melanie Griffith!) They are quickly robbed and forced to take jobs, and the local bigwig, their employer, puts the moves on Melanie and eventually fires Desi for not being corrupt. That's when they aren't smart and do not leave town, opting instead to eat dog food or go hungry, get beat up by the guys goons, and then take a joyride in the bigwigs car. The final half of the film abandons the evil bigwig as the trio commit a robbery, go on the run, and hatch a kidnapping scheme, and so forth. The film just sort of ends, annoyingly and ambiguously, but seeing as how they didn't bother to have much character development and story in the first place, its rather appropriate. Worth a look if you are really into low budget 70's fare, but ultimately pretty forgettable.