Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

Directed by John Patrick Shanley. Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Dan Hedaya, Lloyd Bridges, Abe Vigoda, Robert Stack, Ossie Davis, Amanda Plummer. [PG]

A dour hypochondriac (Hanks) with a depressing office job learns he only has a few months to live, and takes up the offer of an eccentric industrialist (Bridges) to live it up in style with his precious time remaining, travel to a remote island, and then jump in a volcano. Gratingly wrongheaded would-be comedy suffers from a severe case of tonal whiplash, flitting among satire, romance, existentialism, and plenty more without any grasp on what makes a fable work; rarely has whimsy and quirkiness felt so forced before. Hanks and Ryan (in three roles, for no particular reason) are likable actors, but they don’t manage much together or individually—the latter goes for broke on caricature with her “middle role,” but there’s no payoff. Of the supporting cast, none of whom have substantial screen time, Hedaya fares best as Hanks’ disagreeable boss; the less said about Vigoda’s island chief and his fellow orange soda-chugging natives, the better (when are Gilligan and the Skipper gonna show up?). Writer/director Shanley deserves some credit for novelty and attempting the unexpected, but that sort of “plaudit” would also describe running head-first through a plate glass window.

25/100