'Joy Ride' Review: Comedy Doc Is An Affecting Hang With Bobcat Goldthwait & Dana Gould

Beginning with a car accident that briefly derails  their “The Show With Two Heads,” “Joy Ride” tracks the mainly southeastern leg of Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould’s co-headliner tour. Toggling between excerpts from their sets, them riffing as they drive around, and archival footage, Goldthwait’s film—he serves as both subject and director—is a warmhearted introduction to these two heavyweight comedic voices. Running a breezy 70 minutes, “Joy Ride” feels like hanging out with two very close, very funny friends as they reflect on their lives and the state of the world. 

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Working through their on-stage set in chronological order, with interruptions to contextualize some of the jokes and the two comedians lives—Gould is perhaps best known for his writing on “The Simpsons” and Goldthwait for his role in “Police Academy” and subsequent late-night antics—“Joy Ride” is mainly set around a series of conversations the two have. Partly taking place in front of an audience and partly within the cramped confines of a car, as they drive to their next set, Goldthwait’s film reflects on their long comedic careers. 

Their on-stage act is as similarly casual as their car ride conversations, with the two beginning their Atlanta set by recounting their car crash—and the subsequent hospital trip that ensued. Set up with two mics distanced from each other, Goldthwait and Gould’s sets have a spontaneous feeling, with Gould often talking about his early comedic career and life within his Irish-Catholic family, while Goldthwait discusses his early career hijinks—including destroying Leno and Arsenio Hall’s late-night sets. Both seem to have mellowed as they’ve progressed in their careers, with their comedy coming off as less abrasive and, instead, as affecting. 

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A particularly hysterical anecdote involves Goldthwait’s friend (and “World’s Greatest Dad” collaborator) Robin Williams and his penchant for shit talking while playing Call of Duty, while another one involves his experience riding on a plane with the US Special Olympics team, which ends in a completely unexpected way. Also, if one thinks that Goldthwait has entirely abandoned his early career antics, he lands a number of punches about anti-vaxxers, gun owners, and, in a particularly amusing riff, Jerry Seinfeld. Gould often acts as the straight man to Goldthwait but is also given a number of moments to shine, especially when he’s talking about his mothers devotion to the televangelist Oral Roberts, and his early career run-ins with an ornery Bob Hope

In all, “Joy Ride” is a relaxed hangout, giving plenty of time and space to Goldthwait and Gould to just talk about whatever strikes their interests and on their various histories and personas. As Goldthwait has transitioned into writing/directing he’s gained a reputation as a darkly-humanistic storyteller—from “Sleeping Dogs Lie” to his odd found-footage horror “Willow Creek”—he’s cultivated an eccentric body of work that is nevertheless tied to his previously anarchistic comedy. While “Joy Ride” shows that he and Gould have perhaps slowed down a bit, they nevertheless haven’t lost their timing. [B]

“Joy Ride” is available now.