Formative Fears is a column that explores how horror scared us from an early age, or how the genre contextualizes youthful phobias and trauma. From memories of things that went bump in the night, to adolescent anxieties made real through the use of monsters and mayhem, this series expresses what it felt like to be a frightened child – and what still scares us well into adulthood.
From malevolent drivers to deadly detours, empty highways and byways are dangerous places to be in horror. Genre staples like Duel, The Hitcher, and Wrong Turn show the perils of hapless travelers. Yet John Dahl‘s 2001 film Joy Ride takes a different route. Brothers become trapped in a bad situation of their own making when they play a mean-spirited joke on a random truck driver. And as the siblings play cat and mouse with their disturbed and vengeful pursuer, this nightmarish road trip turns into a life lesson neither brother will ever forget.
The idea behind Joy Ride was first conceived by J. J. Abrams — two people who are driving together on a deserted road suddenly hear a voice from their CB, telling them their headlight is broken. Along with co-writer Clay Tarver, the pair then built an entire story around the foreboding scene. Originally titled “Roadkill” and filmed under the name of “Squelch,” the movie skirted the emerging cellphone boom. Abrams and Tarver instead depended on a near obsolete form of communication when needing to make contact between the protagonists and the villain.
While there is mention of chat rooms, that’s as far as convenient, contemporary technology goes in this movie. The two brothers are forced to deal with their very current dilemma by relying on remnants of yesteryear: a citizens band radio and a beater car that has seen better days. The characters are never really that far removed from civilization or even a phone booth; the circumstances of their ordeal still leave them feeling isolated. Qualities of Dahl’s neo-noir films carry over into Joy Ride. Although not anywhere as spicy as his early works, the director’s familiarity with out-of-the-way Western vistas and desolate locales is put to good use here. He conjures up a dusty, bleak microcosm where it appears only the main characters and their stalker exist. It’s a pocket universe of roadside terror that incidentally causes two estranged brothers to reconnect.
The destination is usually what matters the most in any given road trip. And as much as this is a story about a sadistic trucker hunting his culpable prey, it is more importantly about reconciliation between siblings. It all starts innocently enough with a college freshman named Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) looking to spend some time with his long-distant crush. After cashing-in his plane ticket so he can buy a ’71 Chrysler Newport, he drives from California to the University of Colorado just to pick up Venna (Leelee Sobieseki). Their would-be romantic ride home together for the summer is postponed, though, when Lewis learns his brother Fuller (Steve Zahn) is in trouble yet again.
This isn’t the first time Lewis has come to Fuller’s aid; it won’t be the last, either. Their reunion at a police station is awkward, but it’s the next scene — Lewis dramatically pulls his car over at the first sign of fraternal ribbing — that confirms the brothers have a strained relationship. The tension ebbs when Fuller installs a CB radio in the car. Barely out of jail and the eldest Thomas boy is already up to no good. He eventually convinces Lewis to help him catfish another driver who is only known as “Rusty Nail” (voiced by Ted Levine). As reluctant as Lewis is, he does as he’s told: he pretends to be a woman named “Candy Cane” while talking to the lonely trucker over the CB. Each brother’s trademark role in the family is now obvious. To make the distinction even clearer, Fuller’s CB handle is “Black Sheep” and Lewis’ is “Mama’s Boy.”
It’s unfathomable that someone like Lewis would be such an unassuming pushover. While this may be due in part to the casting — the late Paul Walker wasn’t the first choice as the character was envisioned to be less confident, or as the director put it, a “putz” — it’s also just a sign of each brother’s function in the relationship. Fuller is the impulsive screw-up, whereas Lewis is the model son who may very well be overcompensating for his brother’s failings. His rush to spring Fuller out of jail upon hearing his mother’s disappointed voice over the phone shows his tendency to help when things are out of sorts in the Thomas clan. Regarding Rusty Nail, Lewis is hesitant about the prank because he knows right from wrong, but the need to appease his brother overrides his sense of morality. Lewis is always aimed to please when it comes to family and especially his big brother.
Steve Zahn hands down steals the show in Joy Ride. He makes you like a character who is positively immature and often self-regarding; his allure is felt in every scene. It comes of no surprise the writers wrote a version of the story where Venna outright falls for Fuller’s charms. Some of those scenes were left intact in the standard cut, which explains why Venna is suddenly interested in both brothers. Nonetheless, Fuller’s magnetic personality is his greatest asset. His charismatic wiles are potent, but they can’t save him from his own reckless actions. There is a precise moment where he could have spared him and his brother pain and misery by apologizing to Rusty Nail. Being true to who he is, Fuller makes things far worse and antagonizes the graveled, disembodied voice over the CB. Despite having seen the consequences of their “joke” up close — in what sounds like a case of gay panic, a third party is brutally attacked after the brothers sent Rusty Nail to his motel room under the guise of meeting Candy Cane — Fuller’s stubbornness remains. Still, his redemption comes later following the terrifying run-in with Rusty Nail.
The genre has a long history of putting evil behind the wheel and staining asphalt with the blood of the innocent. Whether it be venturing down a suspicious detour, or getting tailed by a maniac with severe road rage, the characters in other similar movies are typically decent and unsuspecting. Joy Ride upends the formula focusing on two error-prone men asking for trouble; they are imperfect victims who we come to sympathize with. It speaks to the quality of the writing and performances that audiences can still commiserate with these foolish brothers. Moreover, Rusty Nail is one antagonist whose glaring defects make him all the more real. Although his misdeeds can never be erased, there is a strange pathos about the malicious trucker, as well. The writers initially wanted to make him less mysterious and more understood. Their plan involved giving Rusty a physical disability that caused him to retreat from society and hide in his truck. The attribute was ultimately left out so we can only surmise what kind of life Rusty Nail led up to this point. The sequels are selective with background information, too, but you can at least put a face to the name in the third movie.
At one point, the writers also considered a scene where Lewis and Fuller went home together and saw their parents. An epilogue of this kind isn’t necessary seeing as the brothers have already made peace. Of the two, Lewis experiences the biggest growth as he was given the chance to come into his own, step out of the shadow of his brother’s flaws, and live beyond his parents’ expectations. In exchange, Fuller can now see Lewis as more than a “Mama’s Boy”; his baby brother’s habit of helping him comes from a place of love, not obligation.
This movie is a glowing example of how to reintroduce an old idea in a new and exciting way that doesn’t sacrifice character growth or writing. Dahl suffused ample suspense in a handful of harrowing sequences; Abrams and Tarver not only crafted affably imperfect heroes, they hatched one of the most understated and unnerving villains to come out of early-2000s horror.
The film yields every now and then so viewers can catch their breath, but once this taut and frantic thriller picks up speed again, Joy Ride earns its place as one of the best movies of its kind.
