Double Feature: "Joe Versus the Volcano" and "The Money Pit"

Tom Hanks has had one of the most diverse careers in Hollywood history. Hanks started his rise to fame with a two year run on the television show “Bosom Buddies,” which translated to film work. With the runaway hit “Splash,” Hanks cemented himself as a comedy mainstay and box office maven, lending to his first dramatic film in 1988 with Penny Marshall’s “Big.” While he has ventured back into comedy fairly regularly, the nineties were his dramatic years, with his double Oscars in 1993 for “Philadelphia” and 1994 for “Forrest Gump.” This double feature means to venture back to the eighties, to show what made Hanks famous initially, and to see how he has transformed into the Hollywood everyman of today.

The Money Pit (1986) dir. Richard Benjamin

This film is perfect example of goofy Tom Hanks. The plot is obviously based on the film “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,” a 1948 film that starred Cary Grant as a man who believes that in buying a palatial country home away from the city, he will have the optimal life with his family, but is driven insane by the repairs and renovations. In the same vein Tom Hanks and Shelley Long buy a beautiful old house in the country, at a dirt cheap price. Though they think they are getting a great deal, they soon learn that the house is falling apart and it’s quickly becoming a money pit in which they can never climb out of. Problems arise at every turn, including a scene where the entire staircase collapses, the bath tub falls through the floor, and the yard is dug up by a wrecking crew.

This film is the better of the two, because Tom Hanks is really giving his all. His physical comedy and reactions to these travesties made me guffaw throughout, and though Long doesn’t do much throughout the plot she works off Hanks in a reassuringly charming way, so that they really seem like a sweet if dysfunctional couple. Added to their house problems is Long’s ex-husband, a ridiculously handsome composer who is trying to win her back for the benefit of her body, not her mind.

The film is surprisingly funny, charming, and a great romantic comedy that utilizes Tom Hanks comedic range aptly. This is also being a great commentary about yuppies, the New York City housing market, the American Dream, and relationship politics. Shortly after this film Long left “Cheers,” and tried for an unsuccessful film career, and Hanks went on to make other films such as “Punchline” and “The ‘burbs.” The early nineties would prove troublesome for Hanks, as he starred in many flops, one right after another, including the second film in this comparison.

Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) dir. John Patrick Shanley

This is, put simply, a very strange film. The writer and director of this film was John Patrick Shanley, who has said that the experience of trying to work with the studio was so extreme and disjointed that he wouldn’t direct ever again, a promise he kept until 2008 when he directed a film version of his play, “Doubt.” To think that Shanley, a great writer by all accounts, was a part of this three ring circus is curious and confusing. It’s clear what Shanley envisioned for the film based on its framework, but the choices are so fragmented and problematic that the end result is mystifying.

The story follows Joe (Hanks) who works in the most depressing office in America, with a ridiculous boss, terrible lighting, and a female co-worker who barely notices him. When he finds out he has a terminal disease he quits his job and is offered a crazy opportunity by a rich man, to throw himself into a volcano for the benefit of an island tribe’s superstitious beliefs. The premise lends to hijinks and a sequence where Joe spends a lot of money alongside his limo driver. When Joe is living his dream and rebelling against the mundanity of life it’s incredibly satisfying. What doesn’t work is the romantic angle of the film.

Meg Ryan is Hanks foil and romantic interest in not one but three roles. Ryan plays his co-worker, and the daughters of the rich man who sends him to the volcano, all with different wigs, accoutrements, and implacable accents. The reasoning behind this is not clear and lends to a lot of the confusion. The last iteration of Ryan is her actual self: long blonde hair and charming demeanor fully intact. This Meg Ryan takes Joe to the island aboard a boat that has been promised to her by her father. They apparently fall in love throughout the journey, which lends to the final sequence on the island. The islanders are white washed in really poor taste, with Nathan Lane and Abe Vigoda playing the higher ups.

Compared to the light and breezy charm of “The Money Pit,” “Joe Versus the Volcano,” is strapped with too many complex and confusing elements and a lot of incoherent choices. Though the film garnered mixed reviews and a low box office return it has become a cult film that is beloved in many circles.

Though Tom Hanks has been in some truly amazing dramatic works, this is a version of him I truly adore: goofy, affable, lovable, and beloved. He has made some comedies in recent years, but this was seriously the golden age of his persona as an every man, akin to Spencer Tracy in his appeal.