Before we see Ludacris burning rubber in Fast 9, he’ll star in The Ride, an inspirational drama about extreme BMX racer John Buultjens. Luda aka Chris Bridges plays half of an interracial couple who decides to adopt John, even though he was raised by a white supremacist family and his spent most of his childhood in juvenile detention centers.
The film stars Shayne Graham as John Buultjens, with Ludacris and Sasha Alexander as Eldridge and Marianna Buultjens. Behind the camera is Alex Ranarivelo, who directed the road racing film Dirt in 2018.
It’s not the sort of thing I’d expect to see from Luda, but there’s nothing wrong with branching out to try new things. That it debuted a couple of years ago at the Newport Beach Film Festival and is only opening now could be a cause for concern, though. Amazon Prime saw enough to pick it up, though, and will release it on November 13th.
SYNOPSIS: From the inspiring true story of extreme sports legend John Buultjens, THE RIDE follows John McCord, an athletically gifted youth who triumphs over a troubled upbringing. After a violent, racially-charged incident lands John (Shane Graham) in juvenile detention, he is finally placed with an unlikely set of foster parents, Eldridge (‘Ludacris’) and Marianna Buultjens (Sasha Alexander), an interracial couple who want to provide a fresh start for the tormented youth. Eldridge makes it his mission to overcome the challenges of John’s white supremacist upbringing and slowly begins to forge a relationship through his foster son’s fascination with extreme sports by giving John his first bike. Rooted by this newfound passion, the family builds a bond of mutual respect, love and together they speed toward BMX glory and ultimately, redemption.
