Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

John Patrick Shanley

Writer (WGA):

John Patrick Shanley (written by)

Release Date:

9 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

An Average Joe. An Adventurous Comedy.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Volcano | Love | Tropical | Yacht

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Joe Banks
Meg Ryan	...	DeDe / Angelica Graynamore / Patricia Graynamore
Lloyd Bridges	...	Samuel Harvey Graynamore
Robert Stack	...	Kenneth Hindmick / Dr. Ellison
Abe Vigoda	...	Waponi Chief
Dan Hedaya	...	Mr. Frank Waturi
Barry McGovern	...	Luggage Salesman
Amanda Plummer	...	Dagmar
Ossie Davis	...	Marshall
Jayne Haynes	...	Nurse
David Burton	...	Mike
Carol Kane	...	Cassandra the Hairdresser (as Lisa Le Blanc)
Jim Hudson	...	Fred the Guard
Antoni Gatti	...	Italian Tailor
Darrell Zwerling	...	Underwear Salesman

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1994) | Spain:13 | Iceland:L | Germany:6 (re-rating) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

When Joe and DeDe leave the restaurant, there is a billboard on the left with a picture of an erupting volcano and the words "Fire in Paradise".

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Medical League Building - Long Island City Branch has a street address of 941. Addresses in Long Island City, Queens are hyphenated, such as 25-81.

Quotes:

Patricia: You mean you were diagnosed with something called a brain cloud and didn't ask for a second opinion?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "I Hate My 30's" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Blue Moon

An Under-appreciated Delight

For many people, the fact that I love this movie will throw the integrity of everything else I write about into doubt. "Joe" has unfairly become an industry joke, shorthand for the depths to which Tom Hanks sank before redeeming himself with Academy Awards. This fate is horribly undeserved. "Joe" is an imaginative and gloriously life-affirming movie, a hysterically funny fantasy nearly on a par with the best of Terry Gilliam with a "carpe diem" moral that comes across with a lot more honesty and a lot less preachiness than some other movies I could mention. Every Tom Hanks performance is virtually flawless and this one ranks near the top. Meg Ryan's performances are warm and hilarious. Usually it's men who play more than one role in a movie and then it's more often for ego's sake than art's. Ryan pulls off her multiple characters with remarkable grace. More amazingly, it makes perfect sense for her to play three characters. For the sake of argument, I am willing to concede that there are those who just aren't going to enjoy this movie's unique mixture of whimsy and genuine emotion. But for me, it's a classic, easily one of my favorite movies of the decade.