Tom Hanks always showed promise, even back when he was in the short lived sitcom, Bosom Buddies. He was able to spin off of that success to become one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood. Many critics will be quick to point out: His acting chops may not be on par with DeNiro or Hoffman, but what he lacks in method, he more than makes up for with sheer charisma and likability. It's this likability that led him to a blossoming comedy career with Big and Turner and Hooch, and it's a key ingredient to what makes Joe Vs the Volcano one of the best movies to download.
So what makes this one so special? Well for starters, while Big and Turner and Hooch both did an excellent job showcasing Hanks' abilities as a comic actor, Joe Vs. The Volcano is a little more demanding of the actor. Here, he's asked not simply to provide a few funny moments, but to be cast in the shoes of the everyman. At the beginning of the movie, Joe is seen in a situation most of us will find familiar: selling his life away for "three hundred dollars a week".
In the first act, Joe is hating his life, hating his job, working at a repugnant factory (designed by Beetlejuice's Bo Welch, the factory is really a masterpiece of life crushing depression). The factory sits in the middle of a vast muddy expanse of terrain. Joe works under flickering lights which he's sure are giving him cancer and spends the day wishing he had the nerve to talk to the beautiful woman he sits across from (played by Meg Ryan in one of three roles).
Joe, a serious hypochondriac, takes a trip to the doctor's office where he learns that he has a "Brain Cloud". A fatal condition. From here he meets the industrialist played by Lloyd Bridges, who offers him a chance to live like a king for several months, in exchange for his suicide by jumping into a volcano.
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! The original ending of the film had the industrialist and the doctor getting what they deserve for pulling one over on Joe. It's probably better that they went with another take, because while those two characters do serve as the villains, in a sense, they also serve as Joe's saviors, giving him his life back. - 40730
So what makes this one so special? Well for starters, while Big and Turner and Hooch both did an excellent job showcasing Hanks' abilities as a comic actor, Joe Vs. The Volcano is a little more demanding of the actor. Here, he's asked not simply to provide a few funny moments, but to be cast in the shoes of the everyman. At the beginning of the movie, Joe is seen in a situation most of us will find familiar: selling his life away for "three hundred dollars a week".
In the first act, Joe is hating his life, hating his job, working at a repugnant factory (designed by Beetlejuice's Bo Welch, the factory is really a masterpiece of life crushing depression). The factory sits in the middle of a vast muddy expanse of terrain. Joe works under flickering lights which he's sure are giving him cancer and spends the day wishing he had the nerve to talk to the beautiful woman he sits across from (played by Meg Ryan in one of three roles).
Joe, a serious hypochondriac, takes a trip to the doctor's office where he learns that he has a "Brain Cloud". A fatal condition. From here he meets the industrialist played by Lloyd Bridges, who offers him a chance to live like a king for several months, in exchange for his suicide by jumping into a volcano.
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! The original ending of the film had the industrialist and the doctor getting what they deserve for pulling one over on Joe. It's probably better that they went with another take, because while those two characters do serve as the villains, in a sense, they also serve as Joe's saviors, giving him his life back. - 40730
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Integrating Technology in Learning Through Music Teachers Software Online Films Do not forget to take your resume and a headshot most preferably 8"X10" with you to the audition. Regardless of what people think, she is not a singer that can be easily copied.
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