Joe Versus the Volcano

1990

Action / Comedy / Romance

30
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 54% · 37 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 54% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.9/10 10 41793 41.8K

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Plot summary

Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.

Director

John Patrick Shanley Photo
John Patrick Shanley

Top cast

Tom Hanks Photo
Tom Hanks as Joe
Abe Vigoda Photo
Abe Vigoda as Chief of the Waponis
Ossie Davis Photo
Ossie Davis as Marshall
Nikky Smedley Photo
Nikky Smedley as The Boswell Sisters
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
872.84 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 42 min
Seeds 6
1.64 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 42 min
Seeds 47

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by mike48128 6 / 10

A fable that grows on you. Watch it again.

Reviewed by AaronCapenBanner 7 / 10

Patricia Too

John Patrick Shanley both wrote and directed this quirky comedy that stars Tom Hanks as put-upon worker Joe Banks, who finally quits his depressing dead-end job after being told he has a "brain cloud" by Dr. Ellison(played by Robert Stack) Despondent, Joe ponders suicide but is interrupted by multi-millionaire Mr. Graynamore(played by Lloyd Bridges) who offers Joe a deal: he will live like a king before jumping into the volcano of a Pacific island to appease the tribal chief, with whom he has dealings. Joe agrees, and meets three different women(all played by Meg Ryan) until the last, Patricia, with whom he falls in love, as they make the fateful sailing journey together... Delightful film is decidedly different and odd, but also charming and unpredictable, with two appealing lead performances and many funny scenes. Becomes more of a life-affirming fable than a straight narrative story, explaining credibility issues, with a sweet ending.
Reviewed by ebeckstr-1 7 / 10

Underappreciated and misunderstood

Highlights of this underrated film include witty, dark humor, with many laugh out loud moments and performances; moments of unexpected poignancy; and an equally unexpected reflective quality. Starring and supporting acting is brilliant and, at times, even subtle, which contributes to more character development than usual for this kind of movie. The plot wavers about an hour in, becoming too silly for a time. During this same chunk the script includes some unfortunate '90s style stereotyping of native people and cultures, and what is actually quite a shocking and cavalier conclusion to this segment of the movie. The final 10 minutes recaptures the tone and sentiment from the first part of the movie and brings the story to a fitting conclusion and simultaneously doing justice to the characters.
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