April 6, 2002 -- "Joy Ride" is thriller full of borrowed ideas, but it is enjoyable if you are willing to abandon all logic and fall under the film's spell.

Probably if I had seen this in a packed theater I might have been more willing to go along for the ride, but I saw it on DVD first. One of the interesting features of the DVD is that it gives you four alternate endings to the film. The original ending, which was not seen in theaters, was right out of "Jaws." It is very different than the final alternate ending selected by the filmmakers. The four endings are instructive on the art of editing the same footage to come out with different finished products. You can even cobble together your own ending with a feature on the DVD. I liked the original ending better than the one used in the theatrical release.

The bulk of the film is reminiscent of another Steven Spielberg film, "Duel" in which a lone driver (Dennis Weaver) on a cross-country trip plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a psychotic truck driver. What is noteable in that old made-for-TV film is that you never see the killer truck dirver. The same is true in "Joy Ride" (although you can see the killer in one of the alternate endings). In "Joy Ride" you get to hear the killer truck driver's voice. He goes by the CB handle "Rusty Nail." The creepy voice is by Ted Levine, while Rusty Nail himself is played by Matthew Kimbrough.

The trouble starts when a couple of guys on a cross-country trip decide to play a prank on Rusty Nail. Bad idea. The deadly chase is on. The two guys are Lewis Thomas (played by Paul Walker of "The Fast and the Furious" and his brother Fuller Thomas (Steve Zahn of "Riding in Cars With Boys"). They also rendezvous with a college girl, Venna Wilcox (Leelee Sobieski of "Here on Earth"). Venna joins the boys for their cross-country trip, and becomes one of Rusty Nail's targets. There are a number of problems with the plot. Like how does a guy in a huge truck manage to follow a car without being seen? How does he manage to outrun cars that are much faster and more maneuverable than a truck? How does he always keep one step ahead of his victims? He always seems to know where they will be and what they will be doing, and he knows all kinds of information about them. The movie even asks the question how he knows so much, but never answers the question.

Aside from these problems, the joke the boys play on Rusty Nail is incredibly ill-advised, especially because of the stupid way it is carried out. Later, when Rusty Nail asks for an apology (using a CB radio), the boys very foolishly decline. In fact, they provoke him by insulting the psychotic truck driver. This is what critic Roger Ebert calls an "idiot plot" element. In order for the plot to work, the characters have to be idiots. Also, as one viewer pointed out, the whole plot would unravel if anyone in the car had a cell phone. Cell phones are so ubiquitous these days, it is highly unusual to see three young people in a car without a single cell phone between them. This film obviously demands that you really, really have to suspend your disbelief.

While the film's plot leaves much to be desired, technically, it is very well made. Director John Dahl ("Red Rock West"), uses Western location shots very effectively to establish a barren, sagebrush-strewn landscape that seems hostile and unforgiving (sort of like the classic airplane attack sequence in "North by Northwest"). He also paces the film very effectively with peaceful interludes punctuated by moments of terror, creating increasing levels of suspense. The acting is solid, with an excellent performance by Zahn, one of the best young character actors working today. I was bothered enough by the plot deficiencies, however, to give the film a C+.

The DVD comes in widescreen anamorphic format. Extras include commentaries by the director, by Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski and screenwriters Clay Tarver and J.J. Abrams. There is also a theatreical trailer, the 29-minute original ending and four alternate endings. There are also auditions for the voice of Rusty Nail, a featurette about the making of the film and a deleted scene.

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