Paul Walker: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

5 Awesome...

5. Lewis Thomas €“ Joy Ride (2001)

Despite being a wholesale knock-off of Steven Spielberg's directorial debut, there's a lot of charm in this JJ Abrams-scripted road trip thriller from 2001. No seriously, Joy Ride's premise is almost identical to that of Duel, the terse, tense adaptation of Richard Matheson's short story where a lone driver is menaced by a seemingly supernatural, malovelont truck that endlessly chases him. Joy Ride throws its hands up and cops to the Duel influence on numerous occasions, with obvious nods in certain shots and the production design. Joy Ride is a more fully fleshed-out take on the concept, however, with Walker taking the lead role of Lewis Thomas, a college student driving home between semesters. He ditches a flight in favour of a road trip to impress his crush, with the romantic notions demolished when his mum tasks him with bailing out his troublesome older brother (Steve Zahn) and bringing him home, too. Between them they rile a lonesome truck driver called Rusty Nail, and suffer his wrath. An efficient little horror flick, with Walker oozing charm and panic as the story progresses.