Helen Hunt’s delightful second film as a director (after the underrated “Then She Found Me’’ eight years ago) has her playing a control-freak fiction editor at The New Yorker whose overprotectiveness leads her son to drop out of NYU even before his first term begins.
Upon learning Angelo (Brenton Thwaites) plans to make a summer vacation with his remarried dad a permanent stay, Hunt’s Jackie hops a plane to California, where she begins stalking Angelo with the help of a very patient chauffeur (David Zayas), and eventually resumes her loud arguments with the son.
Fortunately for both of them, Jackie begins taking surfing lessons from the younger Ian (Luke Wilson), who also teaches her a more laid-back approach to life, provides some much-needed romance — and helps her get closure on a traumatic event from her past.
“Ride’’ sounds a bit like a Lifetime movie, but in Hunt’s capable hands it’s a brisk, funny and touching comedy for boomers.