Roger Ebert's Journal

"...a failure in every possible way except that I loved it."

I can't think of a better way to summarize "Joe vs. the Volcano." Reading people's comments over the years, I've found it to be a tremendously polarizing film -- lovers, haters and few in between. I've been in the former group since it was in its initial release.

I wonder: How would JVTV have been made only a few years later, when Tom Hanks had morphed into TOM HANKS? In 1990 (before even "A League of Their Own"), he was still "wacky" enough that someone thought a Muppet-looking, roaring (?!?) hammerhead shark had a place in the picture. Is the film's technical "failure" due in part to the disconnect between Shanley's deeply thought, carpe-diem script and the need to give audiences the Mr. Bachelor Party they'd come to expect?

Thi isn't the place for a big love letter to the movie, but a quick shout to Tom Duffield's art direction -- the subtle manipulation of color, especially in the city scenes early on, helped put Joe in a world of his own.

I'll end by quoting you again, Mr. E., this time from your original review: "...I realized a wondrous thing: I had not seen this movie before. Most movies, I have seen before. Most movies, you have seen before." Spot on. I hope you get well soon, and that JVTV finds a place in next year's Ebertfest.

I, too, love "Joe vs. the Volcano". It's a strange little film that has a lot of charm. It captures how I feel going into my daily 9 - 5 office job. (Don't tell my boss.) I was wondering, however, what movie rules it broke. Aside from the Jewish-Pacific islanders, and a main character with a "fatal" disease who's tricked into attempting ritual suicide, I saw nothing to offend the "Movie Gods".

Romance and Cigarettes was recently made available "On Demand" in my local cable area. I can't wait to see it!!

I suppose we have many people to thank for the "return" of the movie musical. Some point to Moulin Rouge, others to Chicago, others still to Dancer in the Dark. I'm just happy that I can enjoy new musical films. There is something to be said for musicals in this day and age - I usually enjoy most of them (and according to your reviews, you seem to enjoy most of them, also) - it's refreshing to see a film that isn't scared to be, well... fearless. There is a certain vulnerablility in producing a movie musical, I imagine. And I appreciate it. Even the lesser of the most recent crop of these films (The Producers, Rent, the Phantom of the Opera) still have merits I can appreciate and be entertained by - such as being different. And breaking "rules." The genre, almost by definition, seems to break rules just for being. So much so that when a genuinely beautful film such as Once comes along and creates a genre movie that transforms its genre's rubric to seem more "realistic," well... I almost garner a bit of resentment. I want to hate it for trying to appeal to the masses! I want my spontaneous musical numbers and mysterious-backing-orchestra-coming-from-nowehere!!! (Oh wait, Once does have this... gosh, I love that film.)

And then to have "regular" movies like Joe vs. the Volcano readily available for viewership consumption is a delightful treat. Thanks for all your wonderful reccomendations.

- Joseph (uber fan)

I thought I was the only person alive who loved this movie. It made me laugh and now I want to rush out and buy it on dvd. Everyone that I told about the movie thought I was nuts. So it goes, in the words of Kurt Vonnegut, so it goes. Thanks for this stroll down memory lane.
With my luck it will be like Enchanted April and unavailable on DVD...

Hi Roger,

I'm one of the few people I know who has a fondness for, or even remembers, Joe Versus the Volcano. I love the quirky film, warts and all. I always look forward to reading about your film festival so I'll know what movies I need to add to my Netflix queue. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up to the festival in person someday.

I've been following your health issues over the past few years. I'm sure it's hard to have so many setbacks. I know a little about those kind of problems and I wish you all the best. I hope you know that all your fans are wishing the best for you and your family. Keep up the writing! I love "hearing" your voice and views on matters film and non-film related.

- Amanda Fisher

Roger: I have been a fan of yours for years, and always look forward to reading your thoughtful reviews. I think that through them your fans have gotten not just an appreciation for the love and study of film, but also a glimpse into who you are.

However, it was not until your public battle with your recent health problems that we were able to definitely confirm what your writings had given us glimpses of - the depth and breadth of your dignity and intellect.

I will simply say this: the way you have refused to hide the physical effects of your health problems, and the brave and optimistic way uo have continued to work is an incredible inspiration to me. It confirms a lot of the best things we believe about the human spirit.

Thanks for the example. May God continue to richly bless you and your family.

Tony

I also love Joe vs The Volcano. It's just so odd. I'd love to see it at Ebertfest sometime.

I'm always trying to convince people of why Joe versus the Volcano is a good movie & they rarely understand. It's nice to have one of the most respected movie critics on my side.

"Joe vs. the Volcano" is one of my top ten all-time favorite movies. I love the audacity of the plot, the implied threat to off the star, the cheesiness of the effects, the charm of the leads, the great little turns by Dan Hedaya, Ossie Davis and Barry McGovern...and most of all, I love the extraordinary score.

There are moments of truly earned emotion throughout: Joe Bank's lonely night in LA and his delirium as the enormous moon rises over the vast ocean...

It may not be the consistent artistic triumph of a Coen Brothers or Scorsese film, but it is a heart-grabber with its own peculiar mishmosh of styles...

HMH

Joe Versus the Volcano is my all-time favorite movie. And I've seen a lot of movies, and much of what's any good, from the silents to the most recent releases. It's just a charming movie. And very inspiring. Not perfect, obviously, but unique.

In fact just recently in a discussion about you on Emerson's blog I mentioned that I appreciated your having appreciated this movie. So I hope you do include it sometime in your festival, and it's heartening to read you still think highly of it. It's one of those that when people actually see it, many of them love it. Its IMDB review section consists of one person after another in love with the film and convinced he's the only one.

I agree with you, up to a point. Joe versus the Volcano is two thirds of a brilliant comedy but even a charter member of the "What ever happened to John Patrick Shanley Club" has to admit the third act is a total mess. The only redeeming part of the third act is the final lines "...and wherever we go, we're taking this luggage". All the versions of Meg Ryan were adorable and Tom Hanks was, typically, understatedly brilliant. The opening credit sequence and the first ten minutes in the "office" does a wonderful job of capturing the soul-destroying effect of a dead-end job. (he can get the job, but can he do the job).
After the promise of the first two acts the unravelling of the movie was so disappointing, leaving "The In Laws" (the original of course) safely on the pedestal as my all-time favourite comedy (spoken word at least - Buster Keaton remains the Stone Faced God of Comedy)

Thank you for making one of my guilty pleasures not so guilty. Joe vs. The Volcano has always been one of my favorite films. To me it contains the same crazy, kinetic energy of a Tex Avery cartoon.

Joe vs the Volcano is one of my all time favorite movies! Get well soon!!

I love "Joe Vs. the Volcano", and I can't seem to convince anyone else of its merits. For me, it exists outside the realm of criticism, and it just works on its own terms. Thank you for validating me!! At least now I know I'm not the only one...

"Joe Versus the Volcano" is, by all means, the most delightful misfire a studio ever dared to release. Or maybe, as the saying goes, "it wasn't released, it escaped!" The plot makes "Bubba Ho-Tep" seem like a biopic, it has easily two of Meg Ryan's worst performances ever and the climax is contrived at best.

Still, I remember few films from when I was a kid which have left as many fond movie memories as "Joe" has. The moon scene. The trunks. Abe Vigoda's Waponi Chief. The volcano path symbols throughout. And Tom Hanks at the center of it all in his best pre-"Philadelphia" performance.

I hope you do get around to booking "Joe" in your EbertFest. I hope I'm there to watch it. Most of all, I wish you're there with us then to help us appreciate it as only you can.

Be well, sir.

Get better soon, Roger!

All I remember about Joe vs. the Volcano is that being fed to the Volcano would have been preferable to working in his grungy office.

Sounds like it would be a fun choice for EbertFest, meaning it would be fun to argue whether or not it is worthy. After all, that's one of the most important qualities of any EbertFest movie - that it provide good argument fodder.

When I first saw "Yes" in a film study class, I found it very interesting and inspirational, to say the least. Unfortunately, this class only lasted for a little under an hour and was only held twice a week. I think it's almost criminal to not see a film all the way through the first time. This has been my number one rule for viewing films since some time around the Fall (before then, I saw some of what are now my favorite films broken up, yet that didn't seem to take away from their effect on me). We never finished "Yes" in class, but a rented it a while later and finished it. Off of memory, I believe that it is one of the best, most innovative films that I've ever seen. I know that I'll see it again some day and find a miriad of meaning in it that alluded me before.

Get well soon,
Matt

I have been a fan of 'Joe Vs the Volcano' since I was about 12. I always thought it was the type of movie lost on people that have spent so many years critiquing something that they have stripped away their ability to sit back and enjoy a simpler example of what they criticize. It's good acting and funny-true dialogue. In short, I just have always enjoyed watching it. It never gets old.

I avoided Joe vs. the Volcano for a long time because both of my parents told me it was the worst movie they'd ever seen (I don't think they even made it all the way to the end). Years later I suddenly realized that since my parents hated nearly all of my favorite movies, I'd probably do well to see this Volcano thing. Sure enough, it became another of my favorite movies. Oscars and critical praise nonwithstanding, Tom Hanks has never topped his work here. He's effortlessly funny and endearing throughout (or at least he makes it look effortless), and the "Dear God, whose name I do not know..." scene is just sublime.

I love Joe Versus the Volcano as if it were my own son, and I think the world needs John Patrick Shanley now more than ever.

Another fan of "Joe Versus the Volcano" here. As you say in your review, Shanley doesn't quite know what to do with the island natives, but Abe Vagoda as the chief and the tribe's love of orange soda still cracks me up. And the last lines of the movie:
"I wonder where we'll end up?"
"Away from the things of man, my love. Away from the things of man."
Indeed.

Speedy recovery to you, Mr. Ebert.

Roger,

Welcome to the blogging community! It is an extraordinary treat to read your insights and thoughts this way, as opposed to via a formal review. It also gives me a chance to add my voice to the chorus of acclaim here.

I consider myself lucky to have joined your readership when I was still young enough to learn something new. My movie-viewing tastes have evolved significantly over the years, to which I credit your reviews in no small part. Your thoughtful, wise, wry, and sometimes hilariously-biting reviews showed me a different way of watching and thinking about movies.

I hope that this next phase of your recovery goes swiftly. Go in health and happiness.

Oh, and by the way: I, too, love "Joe..." unreservedly.

Glad to hear you are on the mend! I am kicking myself that I never got to Ebertfest before I had kids, although I often Netflix the selections so I suppose am there in spirit.

I'm sure you don't remember me; I was one of the compuserve regulars back in the day. I am so pleased to see you blog, it's a little bit like old times. I'm trying to think of good book recommendations to pass the time while you are stuck in bed. I think you might find mine amusing, although for true silliness with plenty of visuals I think you might enjoy I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence, by Amy Sedaris, it's like Betty Crocker on acid!

I hope you get better soon. You're my favorite movie reviewer; actually the only movie reviewer I really ever cared about and checked often. And not because we always agree (your gushing over Juno, for example, was a bit perplexing), but because I always could appreciate what you appreciated in a film. And because you seem like a really nice decent guy, with obvious intelligence that never comes off snotty, and your class, courage and fortitude in facing your troubles makes me admire you all the more.

Thanks for mentioning this film. I've added it to my Netflix queue.

So sorry to hear about your hip, after all your other medical travails.

I don't feel alone anymore!!!! I saw Joe in the movie theater when I was 12 or 13. (I had the choice of Hunt for Red October or Joe. I chose Joe). I thought it was funny then, and have seen it many many times since, and find something new to love about it everytime. Ossie Davis is wonderful, Abe Vigoda is fantastic. As absurd as that movie is, it is brilliant in its absurdity.

I do not understand why people must qualify their love of Joe Vs. the Volcano by saying things like "the studio messed it up"or "its not perfect." re-watch the movie! the path to the factory, the lightening bolt and the "crooked road" joe took to meet his love all have something in common. And the best of all is the song marooned without you--lyrics by the brilliant shanley. So utterly romantic--unashamedly, unabashedly so. It is a movie that does not apologize for what it is with cynicism. It instead eschews cynicism and goes headlong into what it wants to be and that is where the charm comes from. Like that dorky kid who you just liked hanging out with in high school because he had the guts to be who he was and is probably a cool artist somewhere now.

Again, another "Joe" fan here -- I remember watching it in this dumpy theater in South Carolina and thinking, and I the only one here who "gets" this film? The moon scene was fabulous and Tom Hanks and Dan Hedeya are terrific in those early scenes. I'm glad there are more fans out there. It's one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

Get well Roger, you are much appreciated out here in Audienceland.

Hi Roger-

I love Joe Vs. The Volcano- and imagine it would be hard to choose which one of the movies from this year to cut out in order to put that one in. It's been a great variety so far! Talk about a movie breaking the rules- Farmer John is something else! If only there were more people like him in the world. What a delightful guy with a delightful mother.

By the way- Chaz is doing a great job of keeping us informed and laughing- as well as making us feel right at home. You'd be so proud (and I'm sure you are)!

Keep getting better, Roger! We're wishing you the best!

Joe vs. the Volcano would fall into that "Big Stars/No Box Office" category of Overlookedness. It's a good comfort film, like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, along with one of my other favs from that period, Other People's Money, a movie that I seem to watch a couple of times every year.

Those could also be called "I Wanna Hug Myself After" movies.

Jason,
Toronto

I'm an American who raised 3 kids in a small West African country, so we relied heavily on videos for entertainment. "Joe" was one of our favorites, and we recall portions from it to this day, from the life-sucking fluourescent lights to the trunks that wouldn't go away - we loved it all. (We also have a special place in our hearts for "Ishtar," - it's so delightfully bad - and we sang along....)

I've been a fan for years, but it puts a smile on my fact to know that you enjoyed "Joe." Best wishes for your recovery.

I love this movie, and have since I first saw it in the theatre. It gets everything right, from the wry opening sequence of crushed souls shambling to their places in the factory, to that magnificently transcendent moment on the raft when Joe's "heart swells and bursts" with joy and wonder, just as he had hoped it one day would. What other movie so effectively captures the unfolding of a human heart and soul? Wow!

Joe Vs. The Volcano deserves legendary status for the "Come Go With Me" sequence alone :-)

Yet, it has even more virtues from Ozzie Davis' wonderful supporting performance to Meg Ryan's delightful multiple roles ("would you like to hear one of my poems?").

How can anyone not love a movie with orange soda as a plot point?!

Hang in there, brother and hopefully I'll be able to make my Ebertfest debut next year to coincide with your return...

Jeffrey

I LOVED this movie ever since the first time I rented it back in the old old days of VHS rental.

Illegally made a copy for myself and watched it at LEAST once a week for the next SEVERAL years.

I can quote almost the entire movie verbatim.

Finally got a copy on DVD, it all it's true glory (my VHS copy was so worn out I could barely see it).

Personally wondered why Joe never went for a sceond opinion - a BRAIN CLOUD?.

Underrated film, stellar cast, funny - "Once upon a time there was a guy named Joe who had a very lousy job…"

This ranks up there with other forgotten gems I proudly own - Moon Over Parador, the ABC TV Movies of the Week "Bad Ronald" and "Buster & Billie," Cold Turkey, Heartbeeps (yeah, I said it!), my OOP DVD of The Best of Ernie Kovacs, my recently acquired Criterion copy of "Videodrome" - and many many more...

I love film and have been fortunate enough to find quite a few "Holy Grails" here and there...

Glad to see your love of film is still as powerful as ever, Roger!

"Long ago, the delicate tangles of his hair... covered the emptiness of my hand... Would you like to hear it again?"

I avoided "Joe vs. the Volcano" in theaters because of the outcry against it from critics. When I met my wife, she was a big fan. She got me to sit down and watch it, and I loved it so much I nabbed a copy on DVD as soon as it came out. There is nothing more I would want from you than to have you finally program it for Ebertfest next year, so my wife would finally return with me. We cam to the 4th, 5th and 6th Ebertfests and I am here alone this year. If "Joe" played I know my wife would come back despite time or money or whatever we have going. Shes missing so many great movies this year. You have scheduled one of you best. The screening of "Hulk" this morning even convinced me my initial review was wrong. You can read about it in my blog tomorrow.

Hey Mr. Ebert,

I just wanted to let you know that I check your blog every day in hopes that you have posted something new. You are a big reason I love watching and studying films. Thank you for everything.

-Chase

Get well Roger be comforted by the thought of thousands of people wishing you the best on your recovery.

Our own relationship got off to a rocky start when you sent me (and hundreds of others) off to Mandel Hall at the U of Chicago on a very cold night in 1968 to see a one night showing of Godard's "sympathy for the devil" (rave 4 star review as I recall). All was forgiven long ago. And after all, it was a memorable night.

Roger, I've been reading you online for about 8 years but have been watching you on TV since I was a kid. I wish you all the best, and thanks for being a friend to so many of us, even if we never actually meet.