1990 romantic comedyRating: 16/20 (Jen: 13/20)
Plot: The titular loser's stuck in a dead-end and depressing job in the depths of a gray building where artificial testicles, amongst other things, are made. As a hypochondriac, he makes frequent trips to the doctor. He complains that he doesn't feel right, and a doctor informs him that he has brain cloud and only five to six months to live. Joe quits his job with style and takes a secretary out. The next day, an eccentric gazillionaire shows up and makes Joe a proposition. He wants to pay for Joe to travel to a Pacific Island and throw himself in a volcano so that he can get his hands on a mineral needed to make superconductors. Yeah, I'm not sure that made much sense either. Joe agrees, buys a lot of stuff with Ossie Davis, and then begins his journey.
So how cute is that Meg Ryan? I've always been apathetic when it comes to Meg Ryan, but I was really impressed with the trio of characters she played here--the secretary, the flibbertigibbet (Full disclosure: I had to give this movie a bonus point for using flibbertigibbet.), and the yacht lady. Cute as a freakin' button, no? Tom Hanks? Well, I was distracted by his hair in this one, maybe even more than I was when I watched The Da Vinci Code. He's kind of like the straight man in this giant cosmic joke played on his character, and the performers around him, even though they're barely more than cameos, are memorable and a lot of fun. I always enjoy Dan Hedaya, and he's funny as Joe's boss with all those repeated lines about how so-and-so can get the job but can he do the job. Robert Stack plays the coolest-sounding doctor ever, Lloyd Bridges is hilarious as Graynamore, and it's always good to see Ossie Davis. The luggage salesman (Barry McGovern), Abe Vigoda, Nathan Lane. They're all great periphery characters. You really have to be willing to let go of the real world and just accept the way things happen in this movie, but if you do, I think this one's a rewarding experience. It's like a fairy tale with a little more depth, a story about letting go, taking chances, and living the big life that you've been given. It's probably too surreal and free-floating for the rom-com crowd and too goofy and Meg Ryan-y for a lot of people, but I thought it had enough giant dogs to make it worth anybody's time. And hammerhead shark puppets! That made me laugh. This one's worth watching multiple times, by the way, to catch some recurring imagery (check out that lampshade) and repeated lines (lots of "soul" stuff here).
Joe vs. the Volcano was Barry's pick for the Oprah Movie Club.
My favorite sequence is early on when Tom Hanks has Dan Hedeya by the collar, talking about how he should kill him for taking his life for "three hundred dollars a week." I think you seriously underestimate Hanks in this movie...he is more than just a piece of jetsam in the center of a storm. He slowly grows into an actual person. Its what makes the movie work.
ReplyDeleteI genuinely love this film. I agree that the supporting characters are wonderful as well, every single one of them. I quote this movie all the time...when I am looking at luggage, when I think about how much Los Angeles stinks. (But its a great town)
For me it kind of slows down a tiny bit when they get to the island. I still like Abe Vigoda and Nathan Lane, but its not quite up to the standards of the earlier parts of the film.
Away from the things of man.
I give this sucker an 18. People either get it, or they have zero soul.
Oh, don't get me wrong...I like Tom Hanks just fine. I didn't mean disrespect when I called him a "straight man"...
ReplyDeleteI saw this website that shows every frame of a movie, compressing them into a "movie barcode"...it would be interesting to see 'Joe' with the use of colors, I think. I loved the imagery with the work scenes at the beginning of the movie. There were all kinds of fun details shoved into the scene.
I'm not sure if "slows down" is the best way to describe when they get to the island. I know what you mean by it though. But really, the movie starts to lose control at that point and things actually move too quickly. It's like they were running out of time and slapped a bunch of things together at the end very quickly.
I was thinking about coasting on this one (since I remember it pretty well), but now that Barry has said he genuinely loves it, and has questioned my soul, I'll have to see it in the next few days. Besides, I need some good ammo for every time he flicks me crap about my love of certain cartoons.
ReplyDeleteOK, I gave it another chance. I will say I liked it a little bit more this time, but that's probably due to me, through bitter experience, being better able to relate to some of the crap we sign up for in life.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the good. The scene where Hanks quits is brilliant. There are many philosophical lines about living life that I really enjoyed. And Meg Ryan was awfully cute (though her acting was uneven).
The bad has to due mostly with a story that became increasingly silly and bizarrre, and special effects that were not up to the task. Ultimately the characters were likeable, and the story had a few things to say, but the whole thing was unbelievable. At the risk of my soul, I can only give it a 14.