Joe Versus the Volcano
by John Patrick Shanley
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Abe Vigoda, Lloyd Bridges, Meg Ryan, Robert Stack, Tom HanksDirector: John Patrick Shanley
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Stephen Goldblatt
Writer: John Patrick Shanley
Producer: Frank Marshall
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy
Producer: Roxanne Rogers
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Teri Schwartz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-04-02
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Joe Versus the Volcano
Movie Review: strange flick
Summary: 2 Stars
This is a quirky movie, humorous, silly, with a very dark twist, and some interesting truths about evil thrown in.
Theme: Sick and tired, literally and figuratively, Joe is the chosen victim of a greedy corporate type, whose own daughters (played by Meg Ryan) can't stand him or the fact that they let his money influence whether they work for him or not. To sum, her father is good at manipulating people, so he pays a doctor to tell Joe he has an incurable disorder called a "brain cloud", thus setting him up for his sell: you can have all this money, enjoy your life, but on this chosen date, you have to go to this Island and volunteer to be a sacrificial victim for the Woo Volcano God. The manipulator uses typical "spiritualisms" to make his sell so that Joe feels good about jumping into a volcano, so Mr Evil can get mineral rights to the Island. Joe has a choice of course--death and poverty or a quicker death and great riches. Joe looks forward to the money, but mostly he looks at this as a test of courage, to finally give some meaning to his miserable life, so he takes the offer.
The movie has some hilarious moments. A nod to Easter Island, complete with the red top knot on the Chief's head, as well as Easter Island's history of two cultures colliding, the lighter skinned, red haired "long ears" and the darker/polynesian "short ears" (in the movie they are shipwrecked Hebrews and Druids landing on a Polynesian Island). There is also a feel of Wizard of Oz, once the pair reach the Island, as the tribal members have the same otherworldly, playful feel to them as the Munchkins; at this point, the movie takes on a dreamlike joy and surrealism.
The lightening bolt theme is apropos given the symbol's meaning over time and most recently in films like Harry Potter. It's a symbol that suggests the mark of one who is a chosen victim, a cursed person destined to suffer. In the movies, most people triumph over evil in the end (often after incredible pain and hardship), usually through death, but sometimes, as with Harry Potter, with a "happy ever after". Not quite so in this film. My understanding of the movie is that these two died on top of the floating suitcases right after the shipwreck, and the rest of the movie is a trauma induced vision. Meg Ryan's character never wakes up, Joe becomes increasingly sunburnt, dehydrated and then delirious, until he finally blacks out just before watching a huge moon rise over the horizon, when he thanks God for his life. He then falls into unconsciousness. The rest of the movie takes on the surreal look and feel of a dream.
I'm amazed by the people who are "inspired" by this film. It's quite a testament to the futility of "mind over matter" when currency rules this world. Even though Mr Evil lost his island (and thus the wealth he would have made mining the minerals), it's only in the stupor of impending death that Joe can finally accept what it means to be between a rock and a hard place. He's now awake, but at what cost is this bleak vision? Grateful for the life he was given, no matter how awful much of the experience. Bravo!... but hardly inspiring.
Summary of Joe Versus the Volcano
Laughs erupt when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love and fall in lava in Joe Versus the Volcano, a colorful, stylish laughquake written and directed by Moonstruck Oscar winner John Patrick Shanley. As Joe, Hanks adds to his phenomenal string of successes that includes, Splash, Big and Turner & Hooch. And Meg Ryan follows up her starmaking When Harry Met Sally...with three roles, playing each of the women in Joe's life. When we first meet Joe, he has the white-color blues. Every day is Monday, the boss is always in a bad mood and the cumulative stresses convince Joe he has a terminal condition called a "brain cloud." So when a zany jillionaire pops up and offers him a fleeting taste of the good life, Joe leaps at the chance. All he must do in return is leap into a volcano. But funny things happen on the way from the urban isle of Manhattan to the remote tropical isle of Waponi Woo... Out of the corporate frying pan. Into the fire. Is Joes doomed to be the last of the red-hot lovers? Not if the forces of courage, love and comedy have their way.DVD Features:
Documentary
Filmographies
Interactive Menus
Music Video:Eric Burdon, "Sixteen Tons"
Other
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer
Joe Versus the Volcano is a true early-1990s cult film. This fantasy-comedy was the first pairing of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, yet it polarizes viewers like a Blue Velvet or Happiness. As the only directorial effort from John Patrick Shanley (the Oscar-winning writer of Moonstruck), it is something special, and it's hard to resist the film's feather-light heart tugging. Joe Banks is having the life sucked out of him at a dead-end job. Miserable in his gray surroundings with stark fluorescent lighting, Joe dreams of being brave again. A visit to the doctor reveals that he has a "brain cloud." It's fatal, but he'll be fine for a few more months. An eccentric millionaire, Samuel Harvey Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges), hears of Joe's predicament and comes to him with a proposal: The people of the Pacific island of Waponi Woo need a human sacrifice to appease their gods. Why not live like a king for a few weeks, then throw yourself into a volcano? (Graynamore needs a sacrificial victim to offer in exchange for permission to mine the island for a rare mineral.) Joe accepts Graynamore's lavish proposal and on his journey meets three romantic possibilities (all played by Ryan). Joe embraces life; so does the movie. It's packed with smile-inducing supporting performances by Bridges, Ossie Davis, Robert Stack, and Dan Hedaya; playful songs ("Sixteen Tons," "Ol' Man River," Presley's version of "Blue Moon"); and amusing scenes (such as Joe buying luggage). Add the daring, imaginative production design of Bo Welch (Edward Scissorhands), Hanks and Ryan's chemistry, and Georges Delerue's romantic music and you have a film to fall for. --Doug Thomas
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