View source for Joe Versus the Volcano

{{short description|1990 American romantic comedy film}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Joe Versus the Volcano
| image          = Joe Versus The Volcano.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[John Alvin]]
| director       = [[John Patrick Shanley]]
| producer       = Teri Schwartz
| writer         = John Patrick Shanley
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tom Hanks]]
* [[Meg Ryan]]
* [[Lloyd Bridges]]
* [[Robert Stack]]
* [[Abe Vigoda]]
* [[Dan Hedaya]]
* [[Barry McGovern]]
* [[Ossie Davis]]}}
| music          = [[Georges Delerue]]
| cinematography = [[Stephen Goldblatt]]
| editing        = [[Richard Halsey]]<br>[[Kenneth Wannberg]]
| studio         = [[Amblin Entertainment]]
| distributor    = [[Warner Bros.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1990|03|09}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 101:54--><ref>{{cite web | url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/joe-versus-volcano-1970-2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220051730/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/joe-versus-volcano-1970-2 | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 20, 2016 | title=''Joe Versus the Volcano'' (PG) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=April 25, 1990 | access-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $25 million
| gross          = $39.4 million<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|title=Joe Versus the Volcano |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=joeversusthevolcano.htm |access-date=October 21, 2013}}</ref>
}}
'''''Joe Versus the Volcano''''' is a 1990 American [[romantic comedy]] film written and directed by [[John Patrick Shanley]] and starring [[Tom Hanks]] and [[Meg Ryan]]. Executive produced by [[Steven Spielberg]], [[Kathleen Kennedy (producer)|Kathleen Kennedy]], and [[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]] of [[Amblin Entertainment]], ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' follows the titular Joe Banks (Hanks), who, after being told he is dying of a rare disease, accepts a financial offer to travel to a South Pacific island and throw himself into a volcano on behalf of the superstitious natives. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with Patricia (Ryan), the woman tasked with taking him there.

''Joe Versus the Volcano'' was released theatrically in the United States by [[Warner Bros.]] on March 9, 1990. It received mixed reviews from critics, though it was a minor box office success. It has since become a [[cult film]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Cult Films | url=http://www.filmsite.org/cultfilms4.html | work=AMC Filmsite | access-date=October 26, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-tom-hanks-movies-20140910/joe-versus-the-volcano-20140910 |title=Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Tom Hanks Movies |author=Andy Greene |date=10 September 2014 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326142224/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-tom-hanks-movies-20140910/joe-versus-the-volcano-20140910 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | first=Glenn | last=Erickson | title=DVD Savant Review:Joe Versus the Volcano | url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s457joe.html | work=DVD Savant | access-date=October 26, 2013 | quote=...Joe versus the Volcano has accumulated an impressive cult (sorry, no other word applies) following.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Nathan Rabin | title=My Year of Flops Case File #40 ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' | url=https://www.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-case-file-40-joe-versus-the-volcano-1798211577 | work=[[The A.V. Club]] | date=June 12, 2007 | access-date=October 26, 2013}}</ref>

==Plot==
Joe Banks is a downtrodden [[everyman]] from [[Staten Island]], working a clerical job in a dreary factory for an unpleasant, demanding boss, Frank Waturi. Joyless, listless and chronically sick, Banks regularly visits doctors who can find nothing wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Ellison diagnoses an incurable disease called a "brain cloud", which has no symptoms, but will kill him within five or six months. Ellison says that the symptoms he has been experiencing are actually [[Psychosomatic illness|psychosomatic]], caused by trauma in his previous job as a firefighter. Ellison advises him to live the few remaining months of his life well. Joe tells his boss off, quits his job, and asks former coworker DeDe out on a date. Their date is a success, but when Joe tells DeDe that he is dying, she tells him she cannot deal with the revelation and leaves.

The next day, a wealthy industrialist named Samuel Graynamore makes Joe an unexpected proposition. Graynamore needs "bubaru", a mineral essential for manufacturing [[Superconductivity|superconductors]]. There are deposits of it on the tiny [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] island of Waponi Woo, but the resident Waponis will only let him mine it if he solves a problem for them. They believe that the fire god of the volcano on their island must be appeased by a voluntary human sacrifice once every century, but none of them are willing to volunteer this time around. Graynamore offers to pay for whatever Joe wants to enjoy his final days, as long as he jumps into the volcano within 20 days. With nothing to lose, Joe accepts.

Joe spends a day and a night out on the town in [[New York City]], where he solicits advice on everything from style to living life to the fullest from his chauffeur, Marshall. He also purchases four top-of-the-line, waterproof [[Trunk (luggage)#Styles and manufacturers|steamer trunks]] from a fanatically dedicated luggage salesman.

Joe then flies to Los Angeles, where he is met by one of Graynamore's daughters, Angelica, a flighty socialite. The next morning, Angelica takes Joe to her father's yacht, the ''Tweedledee''. The captain is her half-sister Patricia. Patricia has reluctantly agreed to take Joe to Waponi Woo; Graynamore has promised to give her the yacht in return.

After an awkward beginning, Joe and Patricia begin to bond. Then they run into a typhoon. Patricia is knocked unconscious and flung overboard. After Joe jumps in to rescue her, lightning strikes, sinking the yacht. Joe is able to construct a raft by lashing together his steamer trunks. Patricia does not regain consciousness for several days. Joe doles out the small supply of fresh water to her, while he gradually becomes delirious from thirst. He experiences a revelation during his delirium and thanks God for his life. When Patricia finally awakens, she is deeply touched by Joe's self-sacrifice. They then find that they have luckily drifted to their destination.

The Waponis treat them to a grand feast. Their leader, Chief Tobi, asks one last time if anyone else will volunteer, but there are no takers and Joe heads to the volcano. Patricia tries to stop him, declaring her love for him. He admits he loves her as well, "but the timing stinks." Patricia persuades Joe to have the chief marry them.

Afterwards, Patricia refuses to be separated from her new husband. When Joe is unable to dissuade her, they jump in together, but the volcano erupts at that moment, blowing them out into the ocean. The island sinks, but Joe and Patricia land near Joe's trusty steamer trunks. At first ecstatic about their miraculous salvation, Joe tells Patricia about his fatal brain cloud. She recognizes the name of Joe's doctor as that of her father's crony and realizes that Joe has been set up. He is not dying and they can live happily ever after.

==Cast==
<!--- Cast and order per tombstone opening credits, roles per closing credits scroll --->
{{Cast listing|
* [[Tom Hanks]] as Joe Banks
* [[Meg Ryan]] as DeDe/Angelica/Patricia Graynamore
* [[Lloyd Bridges]] as Samuel Harvey Graynamore
* [[Robert Stack]] as Dr. Ellison
* [[Abe Vigoda]] as Tobi: Chief of the Waponis
* [[Dan Hedaya]] as Mr. Waturi
* [[Barry McGovern]] as Luggage Salesman
* [[Amanda Plummer]] as Dagmar
* [[Ossie Davis]] as Marshall
}}

In addition, two other notable actors in smaller roles are [[Nathan Lane]] as Baw, the Waponi advance man; and [[Carol Kane]], a hairdresser.

==Themes and visual motifs==
''Joe Versus the Volcano'' contains themes pertaining to [[Death|mortality]] and the search for meaning and a sense of purpose in one's life.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Niemiec|first1=Ryan M.|last2=Wedding|first2=Danny|date=2013|chapter=Achievement, Positive Emotions, Engagement, and Meaning|title=Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build Virtues and Character Strengths|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpubEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA359|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Hogrefe Publishing]]|isbn=9781616764432}}</ref><ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015">{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/the-unloved-part-fourteen-joe-vs-the-volano|title=The Unloved, Part 14: Joe Vs. the Volcano|last1=Seitz|first1=Matt Zoller|last2=Tafoya|first2=Scout|date=February 3, 2015|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref> Writer-director [[John Patrick Shanley]] said of his inspiration for making the film:
<blockquote>I started to experience ''[[Weltschmerz]]'' in New York a couple of years ago because all of my smaller problems were taken away, so I was faced with the really big problems like mortality and being alive on earth for a limited amount of time and what to do with that time. When you're a working stiff, you don't have as much time to brood on these things. [So] I sort of decided to write a film about it and how it might be overcome.<ref name="Van Gelder 1989">{{cite news|last=Van Gelder|first=Lawrence|author-link=Lawrence Van Gelder|date=June 2, 1989|title=At the Movies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/02/movies/at-the-movies.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York, New York|page=C8|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

Regarding the film's exploration of coming to terms with one's own mortality, Shanley stated:
<blockquote>Almost all of us are in denial about death. And the weird thing is, you think, "They do that because if you were to worry about death you couldn't enjoy your life."  But I think the reverse is true—if you don't recognize your mortality, you're tiptoeing through life and not letting in the full reality of what it is. When Joe lets that in, that's when life comes flooding in.<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" /></blockquote>
[[File:American Panascope logo.png|thumb|200x200px|The film features a zigzag shape as a recurring visual [[Motif (visual arts)|motif]], seen here in the logo of the fictional American Panascope company from the film]]
The film features a lightning-bolt-like symbol as a recurring [[Motif (visual arts)|motif]], first appearing both in the logo of American Panascope—the fictional company at which Joe is initially employed—and as the shape of the pathway that leads to the American Panascope factory.<ref name="Erickson 2000">{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s110volcano.html|title=DVD Savant: Volcanoes and Lightning Bolts|last=Erickson|first=Glenn|author-link=Glenn Erickson|date=March 17, 2000|website=[[DVD Talk]]|access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref> The pattern also appears as a crack in a wall of Joe's apartment; in the lightning bolt that strikes and sinks the ''Tweedledee''; and in the procession of the Waponis to the top of the volcano.<ref name="Erickson 2000" /> Film critic [[Glenn Erickson]] wrote: "The zigzag crack represents both the fear we humans need to overcome, and the circuitous, detour-ridden paths our lives become when we don't aim straight for the truth. Like the absurd walkway leading to the hellish Panascope factory [...] we instead walk Joe's "crooked road" of doubt, cynicism and fear of life itself [...] ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' wants you [to] shuck off your zombie rags and stop being a [[Pod Person]]."<ref name="Erickson 2000" />

==Production==
===Writing and development===
Shanley drew inspiration from his own life experiences in writing ''Joe Versus the Volcano''.<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" /> The portrayal of the American Panascope working environment was influenced by Shanley's experience working for a company that manufactured medical equipment (including [[catheter]]s, [[endoscope]]s, and [[artificial testicle]]s) when he was 18 years old.<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" /> Shanley based the design of Joe's office after the office he worked in while employed there, including the fluorescent lighting and a pipe with a valve that reads, "Do not touch".<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" />

After writing a [[spec script]] of ''Joe Versus the Volcano'', Shanley sent it to filmmaker [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" /> Shanley later recalled: "I was in Los Angeles at a hotel doing something, and the phone rang, and it was Spielberg. And he said, 'I read your script and I really like it.' I said, 'Thanks,' and he said, 'I understand that you want to direct it,' which I don't remember saying, and I said, 'Yes.' And he said, 'Well, I think that's a great idea.' And that's how I got the directing job of ''Joe Versus the Volcano''!"<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" />

===Filming===
''Joe Versus the Volcano'' was executive produced by Spielberg, [[Kathleen Kennedy (producer)|Kathleen Kennedy]], and [[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]], and their production company [[Amblin Entertainment]]. Filming took place in [[Hawaii]], [[Los Angeles]], and New York.<ref name="Van Gelder 1989" /> [[Bo Welch]] served as the film's production designer.<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" /> The American Panascope factory was a building in Los Angeles; the pathway leading up to the factory, as well as the signage on the building, were added for the film, and smokestacks were [[Matte (filmmaking)|matte]]d onto the building in [[post-production]].<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" />

Scenes set on the ocean, including the sequence in which the ''Tweedledee'' is caught in a typhoon, were shot using a large indoor water tank in a [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) studio.<ref name="Seitz & Tafoya 2015" />

==Reception==
===Box office===
The film opened in 1,082 theaters on March 9, 1990, grossing $9.2 million on its opening weekend.<ref name="THR 1990">{{cite magazine|title='Volcano' explodes at $9.2 mil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBsIAQAAMAAJ|magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]| date=December 3, 1990 |volume=311|issue=35–50|page=1|issn=0018-3660}}</ref> It opened at number two at the U.S. box office, behind ''[[The Hunt for Red October (film)|The Hunt for Red October]]''.<ref name="THR 1990" />

''Joe Versus the Volcano'' went on to gross a total of $39,404,261.<ref name="mojo" />

===Critical response===
On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Joe Versus the Volcano'' erupts with plenty of screwball energy and thoughtful observations about living to the fullest, but its existential ambition may prove too goofy for some audiences."<ref>{{cite web |title=Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) |url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joe_versus_the_volcano |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=October 16, 2023}}</ref> At [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joe vs the Volcano Reviews |url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/joe-versus-the-volcano |website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=July 14, 2020}}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemascore.com|title=Find CinemaScore|format=Type "Joe Versus" in the search box|publisher=[[CinemaScore]]|access-date=July 14, 2020}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] wrote in his review: "Not since ''[[Howard the Duck (film)|Howard the Duck]]'' has there been a big-budget comedy with feet as flat as those of ''Joe Versus the Volcano''. Many gifted people contributed to it, but there's no disbelieving the grim evidence on the screen."<ref>{{cite web | first=Vincent | last=Canby | title=A Terminal Ad Man, a God, And a South Pacific Volcano | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE0DA1539F93AA35750C0A966958260 | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=March 9, 1990 | access-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref> Upon its release, ''Time''{{'}}s Andrea Sachs called it a "wan bit of whimsy ... [that] makes no more sense than its synopsis, though Meg Ryan beguiles in three different roles."<ref>{{cite magazine | first=Andrea | last=Sachs | title=Critics Voices | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969722,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215160803/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969722,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 15, 2008 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=April 2, 1990 | access-date=April 30, 2017 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Fifteen years later, ''Time'' critic [[Richard Schickel]] listed it as one of his "Guilty Pleasures"; while acknowledging "there are people who think this film... may be the worst big budget film of modern times," Schickel disagreed: "...you set aside the routine comic expectations its marketing encouraged, you may find yourself entranced by a movie that is utterly ''[[sui generis]]''."<ref>{{cite magazine | first=Richard | last=Schickel | title=''Joe Versus the Volcano'', 1990, John Patrick Shanley, U.S. | url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/joe-versus-the-volcano-1990-john-patrick-shanley-u-s/ | magazine=Time | date=January 19, 2010 | access-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' a score of 3.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "new and fresh and not shy of taking chances... [the film] achieves a kind of magnificent goofiness. Hanks and Ryan are the right actors to inhabit it, because you can never catch them going for a gag that isn't there: They inhabit the logic of this bizarre world and play by its rules."<ref>{{cite web | first=Roger | last=Ebert | title=Joe Versus the Volcano | url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/joe-versus-the-volcano-1990 | work=RogerEbert.com | publisher=Ebert Digital LLC | date=March 9, 1990 |access-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref> He later brought the film to Ebertfest 2012 and wondered "why he gave 3.5 stars instead of 4."<ref>{{cite web | last=Ebert | first=Roger | title=Introducing the films of Ebertfest 2012 | url=http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/introducing-the-films-of-ebertfest-2012 | work=RogerEbert.com | publisher=Ebert Digital LLC | date=March 20, 2012 | access-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack, composed by [[Georges Delerue]], was not released in 1990, the year of the movie's release. Because of Delerue's strong following, a sub-label of [[Varèse Sarabande]] released a CD in 2002 (limited to 3,000 copies), and again in 2016 (with a few extra songs, limited to 2,000 copies).<ref>{{cite web | title=Joe Versus the Volcano - Georges Delerue | url=http://www.soundtrack-express.com/osts/joevsthevolcano.htm | publisher=Soundtrack-express.com | access-date=2011-08-11 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723005850/http://www.soundtrack-express.com/osts/joevsthevolcano.htm | archive-date=July 23, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.soundtrack.net/manufacturers/database/?id=121 | title= Varese Sarabande | publisher=Soundtrack.net | access-date=2011-08-11}}</ref>

Shanley wrote two songs for the film, "Marooned Without You" and "The Cowboy Song", the former used thematically throughout and the latter performed by Hanks on the ukulele.

[[Eric Burdon]]'s version of [[Merle Travis]]'s "[[Sixteen Tons]]" was used at the beginning of the film. After Joe leaves the doctor's office, an edited version of [[Ray Charles]]'s version of "[[Ol' Man River]]" plays. "[[Mas que Nada]]" by [[Sérgio Mendes#Brasil '66|Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66]] accompanies Joe while he is driven around New York City. A Spanish version of "[[On The Street Where You Live]]" is sung while Joe is on his date with DeDe. [[Elvis Presley]]'s version of "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]" plays as Joe spends his final night before departing on his journey. On the boat trip, the [[The Rascals|Young Rascals]]' version of "[[Good Lovin'#The Young Rascals version|Good Lovin']]", the [[Del-Vikings]] "[[Come Go with Me]]", and [[The Ink Spots]]' version of "[[I Cover the Waterfront (song)|I Cover the Waterfront]]" are heard. Waponi tribal music includes the melodies "[[When Johnny Comes Marching Home]]" and "[[Hava Nagila]]".

==Home media==
''Joe Versus the Volcano'' was first released on home video on August 15, 1990. In April 2002, it was released on [[DVD]] by [[Warner Home Video]].

The manufacture-on-demand [[Blu-ray]] was released through [[Warner Archive Collection]] on June 20, 2017, and it received positive reviews for the quality.<ref>{{cite web | title=Review ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' | url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Joe-Versus-the-Volcano-Blu-ray/42871/#Review | website=Blu-Ray.com | date=June 20, 2017 | access-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref>
It was released on Blu-ray in the UK for the 1st time by Warner Archive on the 10th June 2024

==Stage musical==
In 2012, [[San Diego, California|San Diego]]'s Lambs Players Theatre presented the world premiere of a musical based on the film. Directed by Robert Smyth, it featured a book, music and lyrics by Scott Hafso and Darcy Phillips, with musical direction by Jon Lorenz and additional musical arrangements by Taylor Peckham.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lambsplayers.org/show.php?id=16 | title=Lambs Players | publisher=lambsplayers.org | access-date=2014-02-09 | archive-date=October 26, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026031959/http://www.lambsplayers.org/show.php?id=16 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0099892|Joe Versus the Volcano}}
* {{Mojo title|joeversusthevolcano|Joe Versus the Volcano}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|joe_versus_the_volcano|Joe Versus the Volcano}}

{{John Patrick Shanley}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joe Versus the Volcano}}
[[Category:1990 films]]
[[Category:1990 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:Existentialist films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Georges Delerue]]
[[Category:1990s adventure films]]
[[Category:Films about volcanoes]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Patrick Shanley]]
[[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films set in Oceania]]
[[Category:Films set on fictional islands]]
[[Category:Films adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley]]
[[Category:Magical realism films]]
[[Category:Amblin Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:1990 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic comedy films]]