Joe Versus the Volcano

Name: Joe Versus the Volcano
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: March 9, 1990
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 45
Cast: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks

1990

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Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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5.5	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Joe Versus The Volcano

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: March 9, 1990 | PG

Starring: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks

Summary: When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.

Director: John Patrick Shanley

Genre(s): Comedy, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

It is not an entirely successful movie, but it is new and fresh and not shy of taking chances. And the dialogue in it is actually worth listening to, because it is written with wit and romance. Read full review

Rita Kempley

The movie is humble as child's play, graced with the effortless comedy of Hanks and Ryan. They're as fresh and warm as summer peaches, but never sappy, thanks to the off-kilter honesty of Shanley's writing. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Joe Versus the Volcano is difficult to review because some parts are fresh, inventive, and entertaining, while others are near-misses or even complete failures. On balance, however, I readily admit liking this movie, although the second half pales in comparison to the first. Read full review

John Hartl

Shanley demonstrates a fresh, giddy talent for visualizing his eccentric comedy ideas. [9 Mar 1990, p.20]

Empire Kim Newman

Despite magic moments, this is so lop-sided in conception it's really only worth seeking out as a folly. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

An overproduced, disappointing shaggy dog comedy. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

There’s something weirdly innocent about Shanley’s ineptitude: He seems to be inventing the oldest cliches for the very first time. The movie doesn’t really hit bottom, though, until he has Ryan deliver an ickily earnest monologue about how her character is ”soul-sick.” I think she means, ”Pass the Pepto-Bismol. Read full review

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FilipeNeto

May 23, 2020

This film is one of those comedies of the Eighties that did not stay for the cinema history. It fell into some king of oblivion like many other films. However, it is not a bad movie.

The script has a lot of non-sense humor and focuses on Joe Bank, a depressed, hypochondriac man, who has aThis film is one of those comedies of the Eighties that did not stay for the cinema history. It fell into some king of oblivion like many other films. However, it is not a bad movie.

The script has a lot of non-sense humor and focuses on Joe Bank, a depressed, hypochondriac man, who has a monotonous job in an impersonal office at a rectal probe factory, under the orders of an idiot boss. When a doctor gives him just a few months due to having a brain cloud, Bank decides to take full advantage of the months he has left. Shortly thereafter, he is hired by a millionaire to jump into an incandescent volcano in order to appease the beliefs of an island in Polynesia. Of course, he will be royally paid to do so and he can spend the money in the short time he have. Does it sound strange? In fact, it is a film that will displease those who prefer a more rational mood.

The film is starred by a young Tom Hanks, during a period of his career when he made a lot of comedies and asserted himself as a promise in acting. He's good, he does his job very well, but Meg Ryan virtually manages to outdo him by playing three distinct characters in a truly impeccable way. If there is anyone to whom the film owes merit and quality, it is this duo of actors, but most particularly Ryan's chameleon work. Lloyd Bridges, Ossie Davis and Dan Hedaya also do a pretty good job.

The film has a regular cinematography, but makes up for it with excellent sets and costumes. And about that we have to talk about, because there is a critical intention underlying the film that is very noticeable in the sets and costumes. Right at the beginning, we see the employees on their way to their jobs in a factory, in a style that resembles "Metrópolis" and the transformation of the human being into a machine part. The way a flower is pressed and trampled shows the impersonality and dehumanization of the world in which we live. Everything in that factory is part of a critic of our world. Then, we still have harsh criticisms of the way we see economy and the market: a character who is seduced to certain death by using no limit credit cards and the possibility to buy useless things, the obsession to have another ship when you already have one, the concern to guarantee a mineral monopoly even if it means the death of a person... everything is more than just comedy. Its a harsh critic. Even the costumes of the Polynesian natives, loaded with Western soda cans, can be seen as a critic about barbaric globalization and the way that elements of Western culture were sold and implanted in strange countries around the world. The humor and non-sense are powerful satires to our society, which is portrayed as materialistic, depressive, manic and greedy.

Not being a movie that makes us laugh out loud, it works well and makes us smile. The succession of satirical criticisms I mentioned adds intelligence and pertinence to a script that, without it, would seem more absurd than funny.… Expand

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Toasty87

Jul 12, 2020

Another rushed film that plagued Mr hanks early career it's a damm shame .

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