Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: A hypochondriac is told he has only a few months to live, and this news brings about change in him. Meanwhile, a businessman offers him a fantastic month if he ends his life a little early by leaping into a volcano.
Biased, pithy comments: Not every moment of this film was gold. The opening shot of the South Pacific tribe got me laughing, but most of the rest of their sequence is a little weak. But few outside of director Shanley are able to construct a movie of iconic, beautiful fantasies that speak so strongly; my only recent comparison is perhaps Fritz Lang's ``Metropolis.'' But unlike that film, ``Volcano'' is lighthearted, a fairy tale about a man learning to love life when freed of self-imposed oppression. And Ryan and Hanks have real charm together in their first outing (although at this point one has seen these two fall in love in a zillion films). I had a wonderful time, though, and I felt I had seen something that seemed new in the movies that, for once, had nothing to do with gangsters and a suitcase full of money.
Other Notes: Production design brilliantly done by Bo Welch of ``Beetlejuice'' fame.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda, Dan Hedaya.
Directed by: John Patrick Shanley