'Joy Ride' becomes a terrifying trip, fueled by spine-tingling suspense

The new John Dahl thriller, "Joy Ride," has a dumb title (used by at least three previous movies), a predictable plot and a highly unsatisfying ending, but it's still a first-class nail-biter: arguably the year's single-most suspenseful movie to date.

MOVIE REVIEW

JOY RIDE

DIRECTOR: John Dahl

CAST: Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski

RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

RATING: R for violence/terror and language

WHERE: Aurora Grill, Bella Bottega, Cinema 17, Crossroads, East Valley, Everett 4-10, Factoria, Galleria 11, Grand Cinemas, Issaquah 9, Kent 6, Lewis & Clark, Longston 14, Meridian 16, Metro, Mountlake 9, Valley Drive-In 1, Woodinville 12.

GRADE: B+

MOVIE TRAILER

To a certain extent, it's a ripoff of the famous 1971 Spielberg television movie "Duel," but it also neatly blends in elements of both the current teen-scream genre and the 1990s' neo-films-noir that made Dahl's name. If the country's mood isn't too non-violent, it could be a big hit.

It's the story of a naive, clean-cut Berkeley student (Paul Walker) driving across country during his summer break, intending to pick up the girl of his dreams (Leelee Sobieski) in Colorado before continuing east with her to their home town.

But things go bad when he has to make a stop to spring his somewhat disreputable older brother (Steve Zahn) from jail, and the brother goads him into pulling a CB radio prank on a faceless trucker: pretending to be a seductive woman looking for a good time.

The prank gets out of hand, the trucker takes homicidal offense and he proves to be an exceptionally resourceful villain as he spends the rest of the movie making life hell for the boys -- and the girlfriend, who eventually becomes his prime target.

As familiar as that synopsis may sound, be assured this movie is a white-knuckle ride all the way: the individual scenes never quite unfold as expected, the latest horrific development is always a surprise, and it's impossible to view the thing from anywhere but the edge of your seat.


Venna (Leelee Sobieski, left), Fuller (Steve Zahn) and Lewis (Paul Walker, left) are stunned by the handiwork of their nemesis. MERIE W. WALLACE

Unlike most thrillers, "Joy Ride" is also very much a character piece. The interplay between the brothers is tart, believable and fun, and both their ongoing stupidity and the comeuppance they progressively receive is part of the film's delicious pleasure.

But the fuel that drives "Joy Ride" is a cumulative tension that very few action movies these days manage to attain, or sustain -- the kind of skillfully crafted, flawlessly paced, intellectually challenging tension of classics like "Bad Day at Black Rock."

As a director, Dahl has made his share of missteps ("Unforgettable"), but this movie -- on top of "The Last Seduction" and "Red Rock West" -- clearly demonstrates that he's a keeper: a budding master of mood, atmosphere and spine-tingling suspense.