Before he was Forrest Gump, before Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks was primarily a comedy star. If you watched Bosom Buddies, you knew that Hanks showed a lot of promise. He may not be considered one of the best actors out there, but he's always cited as one of the most charming and instantly likable. His early comedies, Turner and Hooch and Big, showcased his talent for making you laugh and his likability, but Joe Vs. The Volcano is one of the all time must movie download.
What makes this one any different? Well to begin with, Big and Turner and Hooch were fun comedies, but Joe Vs. The Volcano is something more. It's a great comedy, yes, but it's more than that, even. The movie is sort of a Rocky story. It contains the meaning of life. Hanks begins as an everyman, selling his time for, as he puts it, "Three hundred dollars a week".
We start off in a dismal state of affairs, with Joe experiencing an existential crisis, having no idea why he was put on earth. This is driven home by the excellent production design of Beetlejuice's set designer Bo Welch. The factory where Joe works, sitting in the middle of a vast expanse of muddy terrain, is simply disgusting and soul crushing.
The hypochondriac Joe quits this job when he's told by a doctor that he has a "Brain Cloud" which will kill him in five or six months. Into Joe's life comes an industrialist who offers him the opportunity to "Live like a king and die like a man".
Played wonderfully by Lloyd Bridges in his one scene, the industrialist needs Joe's help. He mines on an island called Waponi Woo. Once every hundred years, so the people of the island believe, the volcano will demand a human sacrifice lest it explode and kill everyone. Joe comes to terms with his own mortality here and in doing so comes to terms with life itself.
From here, Joe is given his life back. He quits his job, he does what he wants with his time, he enjoys himself, and for the first time in his life, he appreciates what a gift it is to have been born. This is the core philosophy of the movie and the meaning of life: Enjoy it.
The look of the film is similarly wonderful. Bo Welch really sends it out of the park on this one. The film takes place in a sort of fantasy mirror universe of our own. Taking cues equally from Dali and Andy Warhol, the film looks like a living dream.
Spoiler Alert: The original draft of the script for this film had the industrialist and the doctor getting their comeuppance in the finale. Honestly, it's better that they don't. While they were scamming Joe, the fact is that they gave him his life back. Whether or not this is with intent, the doctor and the industrialist serve in the story as both the villain, and as Joe's savior. - 40726
What makes this one any different? Well to begin with, Big and Turner and Hooch were fun comedies, but Joe Vs. The Volcano is something more. It's a great comedy, yes, but it's more than that, even. The movie is sort of a Rocky story. It contains the meaning of life. Hanks begins as an everyman, selling his time for, as he puts it, "Three hundred dollars a week".
We start off in a dismal state of affairs, with Joe experiencing an existential crisis, having no idea why he was put on earth. This is driven home by the excellent production design of Beetlejuice's set designer Bo Welch. The factory where Joe works, sitting in the middle of a vast expanse of muddy terrain, is simply disgusting and soul crushing.
The hypochondriac Joe quits this job when he's told by a doctor that he has a "Brain Cloud" which will kill him in five or six months. Into Joe's life comes an industrialist who offers him the opportunity to "Live like a king and die like a man".
Played wonderfully by Lloyd Bridges in his one scene, the industrialist needs Joe's help. He mines on an island called Waponi Woo. Once every hundred years, so the people of the island believe, the volcano will demand a human sacrifice lest it explode and kill everyone. Joe comes to terms with his own mortality here and in doing so comes to terms with life itself.
From here, Joe is given his life back. He quits his job, he does what he wants with his time, he enjoys himself, and for the first time in his life, he appreciates what a gift it is to have been born. This is the core philosophy of the movie and the meaning of life: Enjoy it.
The look of the film is similarly wonderful. Bo Welch really sends it out of the park on this one. The film takes place in a sort of fantasy mirror universe of our own. Taking cues equally from Dali and Andy Warhol, the film looks like a living dream.
Spoiler Alert: The original draft of the script for this film had the industrialist and the doctor getting their comeuppance in the finale. Honestly, it's better that they don't. While they were scamming Joe, the fact is that they gave him his life back. Whether or not this is with intent, the doctor and the industrialist serve in the story as both the villain, and as Joe's savior. - 40726
About the Author:
Well-produced and featuring some amazing shots of natural locations, The Notebook ranks as a definite must-see film. Rent Movies Online Before I go any further, let me say that Ron Perlman is the man. There are more MP3 players on the market than I can name.
No comments:
Post a Comment