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Joe Vs. The Volcano Is Better Than You Think
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.
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”.
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.
This scenario gives Joe his life back. From here he becomes more daring, more appreciative of the human experience. Therein lies what makes this movie so special, it’s core philosophy: Stop worrying and enjoy life for what it is, because it’s really pretty great.
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.
Interestingly, the original draft of the script (SPOILER ALERT) had the industrialist and the doctor getting their just deserts at the end of the film. It’s probably better that that ending was nixed, as these two characters can almost be seen in a heroic light. While their scheme was dastardly, the fact is that they serve not only as the villains of the film, but as Joe’s saviors as well.
“What famous rock star was paid to come and watch the Beatles perform when he was a young boy’ How To Download Movies Off The Then, there are some character who are completely unparalleled. There are a few different ways to arrange your internship.