day 76 - Joe Versus the Volcano

OK film fans, this was going to be an extremely short post due to the opening day of March Madness. I was looking forward to settling in and catching up on all the basketball I missed during the day since I'm chained to a cubicle. It was going to be the start of two weeks of bracket tracking hoop drama. And then Georgetown lost.

Joe Versus the Volcano is an underrated little gem of a film released 20 years ago this month. When I first saw it I thought it was a pleasant little Tom Hanks comedy with a fairly obvious subtext about managing the path your life takes. But I was just becoming a man when I saw this film and now, after a little more life experience, it's a delightful little Tom Hanks comedy with a humbling message about the path in life most people take. Rarely do Hollywood comedies insert this much philosophy/theology into its message.

Joe Banks (Tom Hanks in between Big and Philadelphia) is a miserable man. He works for a miserable company in a tiny, fluorescent lighted, miserably drab basement for a miserable jackass of a boss. The dialogue in the first scene between Joe and his boss Mr. Frank Waturi (Dan Hedaya) tips us off to the fact that there may be more to this little comedy than meets the eyes.

Mr. Waturi: And what's this about a doctor's appointment? You're always going to the doctor.
Joe Banks: I don't feel good.
Mr. Waturi: So what? You think I feel good? Nobody feels good. After childhood it's a fact of life. I feel rotten. So what, I don't let it bother me. I don't let it interfere with my job.
Joe Banks: What do you want from me Mr. Waturi?
Mr. Waturi: You're like a child.

Let it be known that John Patrick Shanley, the writer/director of this little film happens to have 2 Oscars for Best Screenplay and he knows how to write snappy dialogue that carries a punch. What's more impressive here is that the dialogue doesn't sound like something we've heard before. And the sets don't look familiar either, since many where created for the film by the same set designer who created the sets for Beetlejuice. The whole film just feels unique.

Joe is a hypochondriac and at his doctor's appointment he discovers that he only has 5 or 6 months to live. Like many of us would, the first thing he does is quit his job. This is one of the most interesting monologues in film, relegated to a cult film that was barely seen. The speech is the embodiment of everyman, blue collar workers and office drones, the heart of America, realizing that their life has been sold to the lowest bidder. And it was sold, not out from underneath him, but rather by him out of no other reason than fear. Oh Hollywood, no wonder it took the writer another 18 years before his next Oscar.

Joe's burst of energy leads to an enlightening date with the girl from his office, De De (Meg Ryan), to whom he confesses that he "thought he had seen her before" when they first met. When Joe reveals the source of his new found strength, De De flees his tiny apartment. She is still a part of the world consumed by fear and unable to process anything else.

The next day Joe gets a visit from Samuel Graynamore, a wealthy business man who offers to fund his remaining days in high style if he will jump into the proverbial volcano to help him win some mineral rights on an island in the South Pacific. Having nothing else Joe agrees and sets out on an amazing journey that leads to self discovery. Along the way he meets two more women, Graynamore's daughters Angelica and Patricia (both still Meg Ryan). Angelica is an empty, LA trust fund girl, bereft of anything other than thoughts of what she can do to ensure her daddy will continue to pay her bills. She too is living in fear and has nothing to offer Joe on his journey.

Patricia on the other hand has spurned her father's demands to create her own life. She has been lured into his service (because everyone has their price) with the promise she can keep the yacht she's using to deliver Joe to the volcano. Her outlook on life is the opposite of Joe's former hypochondriac, negative and fear filled life. And with the struggles that lie ahead, she's just what Joe needs to stay the course. In route to the island the boat sinks, leaving Joe and Patricia afloat in the ocean. It leads to Joe realizing just how much he loves the life he's taken for granted.

This is truly an uplifting, wonderful little Tom Hanks comedy, written by an Oscar winning writer who laces the film cleverly with repeating themes. In the end the film is a reminder of what we need to do to feed our soul and is a beautifully scripted representation of a sentiment we all struggle to remember: The present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey. (Pope Benedict XVI)

However, if I can get a typhoon, a volcano and a good woman and perhaps I too can end up away from the things of man.