Review: Joyride, Olivia Colman wants to make a delivery

Joyride had mediocre reviews, so I was in no hurry to watch it. But, crikey, it has Olivia Colman. How bad could it be? The answer is not terrible, but not great. Mediocre works here.

Joyride is a road trip story, directed by Emer Reynolds. It’s basically a two hander between Joy (Colman) and eleven year old Mully (Charlie Reid). And a baby.

Mully and his dad were at a fund raiser in a local bar. They were raising money for the hospice where Mully’s mother died. Mully’s dad (Lochlann O’Mearáin) wanted to snatch the money and pay his gambling debts. Mully thought the hospice should get it.

Mully saw his dad attempt to pocket the money. Mully grabbed it and ran. He jumped into a driverless cab, got behind the wheel, and took off.

In back of the cab was a passed out Joy and a week old infant. Her infant. Which she was desperate to deliver to her friend who would be a good mom to the little girl.

Joy was a solicitor. A single woman with a reputation at the local pub. She had no idea who the father of the little girl was. She must have been a good solicitor, because she could whip out the legal jargon/threats as needed.

This mismatched pair teamed up to keep one step ahead of Mully’s dad and get Joy’s infant to its new home.

The road trip involved multiple stolen cars, nights in bed and breakfasts, ferry rides, flat tires, lack of petrol, and a hungry baby that only Mully knew how to make latch on to nurse. (He had younger siblings, you see.) Not only could Mully drive a car and offer nursing advice, he could also sing and change a diaper.

The film was tonally inconsistent and farfetched. Which is okay – willing suspension of disbelief and all that. The ending was meant to be a happy one and leave you feeling good about how things turned out. It mostly did that.

I’m 100% behind the striking writers and actors right now, but the strike does make finding something to watch a challenge. I refuse to watch those 90 day shows my friends and family are so interested in. That leaves me watching an average drama with Olivia Colman. Things could be worse.