Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

Touches You

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Absolutely the worst movie.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Joe Bank (Tom Hanks) has a depressing job in the Advertising Dept of American Panascope in Long Island City, New York. They make rectal probes. He suffers under his supervisor Mr. Waturi (Dan Hedaya). He's diagnosed with terminal brain cloud with six months to live. He quits and asks out his co-worker DeDe (Meg Ryan). Wealthy businessman Samuel Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges) needs to placate locals on an island to mine a rare mineral. He hires Joe to jump into the volcano to appease their god. Joe hires limo driver Marshall (Ossie Davis) to help him spend the money. Samuel's flighty daughter Angelica (Meg Ryan) picks him up at the airport in L.A. Angelica's half-sister Patricia (Meg Ray) captains the yacht that brings him to the island.I like his surrealistic work life. It reminds me of Brazil. The movie does get uneven at times. After getting the credit cards, Joe goes back into the real world. I expected more surrealism. After that, the surrealism returns with Meg Ryan playing another character. It makes shopping in Manhattan out of step.The 3 Meg Ryan performances are a little jarring at first. I enjoy DeDe as a little wacky and a little darker than her usual fare. Angelica is not as enjoyable. She seems to be trying to hard with her voice. She should pull back a little with the crazy voice and she could replace Ossie Davis on his shopping trips. Patricia is classic Meg and shows their easy chemistry once again. Overall, this may be uneven at times but there are plenty of interesting imaginative concepts.

"Joe Versus the Volcano" is a mixed bag of comedy, romance, fantasy and adventure. The comedy is a little on the dark side initially, but then brings in some outlandish stuff for laughs toward the end, including some hilarious history. One suspects, however, that many modern viewers (i.e., younger) may not catch that. For instance, Patricia (one of three characters that Meg Ryan plays very well) reads the history of Waponi Woo, the fictitious Pacific Island they are sailing toward. It was settled 1,800 years ago after a Roman galley with a crew of druids and Jews was caught in a huge storm off Carthage (in the Mediterranean Sea off North Africa). "They were swept a thousand miles off course and wound up on the wrong side of the horn of Africa (in the Indian Ocean). Thinking they were returning to Rome, they sailed deep into the South Pacific and finally ended up colonizing a lightly populated Polynesian Island." No wonder the Waponi's were known to lack a sense of direction. But, as outlandish as the storm is that carried them more than a couple thousand miles away, the crew makeup is even more hilarious. The Romans had just conquered the druid areas of England in the first century, and by the second century, the druids had all but disappeared. While the Bible tells us of the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, the ancient Jews were not a seafaring nation So, a Roman galley with a crew of druids and Jews would be a truly hilarious fictitious arrangement. Then, as Joe (played by Tom Hanks) and Patricia come ashore, the natives are singing a song to the tune of "Hava Nagila." ("Let Us Rejoice"), a modern Jewish festival song. Patricia concluded reading the background on the island and people, "Thus was born the Waponi culture, a mixture of Polynesian, Celtic, Hebrew and Latin influences."The story is quirky and the parts of the plot don't seem to blend together well. The writing is weak and the direction and editing aren't quite in sync. The best thing of the movie is the cast and the performances of all. It's especially a good vehicle for the talents of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Ryan steals the scenes she is in as DeDe and Angelica, because we know that that's Meg Ryan under the quirky makeup. The movie is fun to watch once, but that's about it.

I have seen this movie probably 8-10 times. I am drawn to it, lock on to it, can't resist it. From the opening scenes to the end, I love this movie. I love that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were brave enough to make it. Yes, it was pretty much trashed by the critics, but movies are funny; they are completely subjective, so one person's swallop is another's caviar. So who is Joe? He's a miserable man trapped in a rotten life and all his options have long faded away. But a weird proposition comes to him and being so miserable, he accepts. So begins his journey to the volcano. In the telling of the tale, we see why Joe is so miserable (he does have reasons)and why the offer given to him was accepted. He meets new people on the way, discarding his old life completely. His life becomes a roller coaster of new experiences, some good, some not so much. But all through it, he seems to keep his balance, unfortunately because he expects to receive nothing and is pleased and surprised when something great happens. Meg Ryan plays three different characters and they all interact with Joe on a different level. If you watched this movie before, give it another try, if for nothing less than to see Joe dancing on his luggage in the middle of the open sea.

This is the most shocked I have ever been by an IMDb rating. Particularly when I first watched JVTV a decade ago, it struck me as a wonderful, fun film that I was sure people loved; now, having found out differently, I am reminded of just how subjective these things are.I don't really think that the film was difficult to understand or too complex or not capable of striking some chords, but it's an interesting thing here... The story is SO understandable and, at times, clichéd, that it turns itself from an actual story into an allegory of a story. There's some pretentiousness, certainly, but the simple-mindedness of it should be forgiven by just how entertaining it is. The characters are fantastic and well played (my favorite is the luggage guy, and when I tell people "may you live to be a thousand years old, sir" they never get it. their loss) and I thought the pacing and dialog were great. It's funny, light in the best ways with just a few of those moments where Joe takes stock and says what people need to hear a relatable character say.Some of the parody might be too in-your-face, like the office scene. But the thing is, that's a great scene, hilarious and very satisfying. Meg Ryan is good here, and I usually don't think she's a great actress. Tom Hanks is, well, Tom Hanks, the perfectly-manufactured everyman. I'm a cynical bastard today, and this isn't my normal kind of film. I like darker movies, and usually shrug off pap. But I still enjoy JVTV, so I'd recommend that those who haven't seen it give the film a chance. It's not for everyone, but if you are one of the people who enjoys it, then you will REALLY enjoy it.