Finite Focus: I Quit (Joe Vs. The Volcano)

Friday is fun day. Time to hang up the day-job for another weekend. Although a part of a lot of us corporate drones out there would like to do so in such a spectacular fashion as Tom Hanks (applying that patented spazzy-not-so-intimidating-outrage) does here. Note the hilarious ‘wipes dandruff off of Dan Hedaya’s shoulder’ move. Although technically released in 1990, Joe vs. The Volcano is very much of the 1980s to the point of Joe still sporting a very amusing curly-mullet. The two things that always stuck out from this movie, which I cherish for its offbeat yet surprisingly palatable execution. The movie was a pretty spectacular failure in its day, in fact director John Patrick Shanley a playwright by first profession who retreated back to the theatre after this one, although this year he’s got the upcoming Doubt with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Perhaps this is due to the cult following that has been growing for years, to the point where it is almost edging back into mainstream awareness. Myself, it’s been a few years since I last caught up with Joe’s life-crisis, the images of this film that first come to mind are Joe on the raft dancing with the gigantic movie-moon in the background; and the ‘death-march under the fluorescent lights’ which culminates to the below sequence. Handsome production design and unselfconscious quirk can go a long way in a romantic comedy; tone is everything in this genre and Joe Vs. The Volcano sports a unique one. Good supporting players are also must and here we have a boatload of great character actors: Amanda Plumber, Lloyd Bridges, Ossie Davis, Carol Kane, Abe Vigoda, Robert Stack and the aforementioned always reliable Hedaya.

We’ve all suffered from a little Brain Cloud from time to time. Enjoy your weekend.