Joe Bank (Tom Hanks) has a depressing job in the Advertising Dept of American Panascope in Long Island City, New York. They make rectal probes. He suffers under his supervisor Mr. Waturi (Dan Hedaya). He's diagnosed with terminal brain cloud with six months to live. He quits and asks out his co-worker DeDe (Meg Ryan). Wealthy businessman Samuel Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges) needs to placate locals on an island to mine a rare mineral. He hires Joe to jump into the volcano to appease their god. Joe hires limo driver Marshall (Ossie Davis) to help him spend the money. Samuel's flighty daughter Angelica (Meg Ryan) picks him up at the airport in L.A. Angelica's half-sister Patricia (Meg Ray) captains the yacht that brings him to the island.I like his surrealistic work life. It reminds me of Brazil. The movie does get uneven at times. After getting the credit cards, Joe goes back into the real world. I expected more surrealism. After that, the surrealism returns with Meg Ryan playing another character. It makes shopping in Manhattan out of step.The 3 Meg Ryan performances are a little jarring at first. I enjoy DeDe as a little wacky and a little darker than her usual fare. Angelica is not as enjoyable. She seems to be trying to hard with her voice. She should pull back a little with the crazy voice and she could replace Ossie Davis on his shopping trips. Patricia is classic Meg and shows their easy chemistry once again. Overall, this may be uneven at times but there are plenty of interesting imaginative concepts.

Joe is diagnosed with an incurable disease, quits his dehumanising job, and accepts an offer to briefly "live like a king, die like a man".But to fulfill his agreement, he must willingly jump into a live volcano on the island of Waponi Woo in order to appease the volcano god. On the way to the island, Joe meets a series of interesting characters, then boards a yacht, captained by Patricia Graynamore. During the voyage Joe and Patricia survive disaster, fall in love, and finally arrive at the island where they face their destiny.......On repeat viewings, its clear to see why this failed at the box office, it was pitched as some goofy romantic comedy, but its more than that. It's a fairy tale, a fable about mans destiny and goals, and how very few of us actually chase them.Plus, it's very dark to boot. You'd be forgiven if you thought you were watching a Tim Burton, even Fritz Lang film to begin with, and it's this first part of the film that makes or breaks the rest.Joe's workplace is a heady mix of Brazil and Metropolis, and its a cold, bleak depiction of an unwanted job. If you can appreciate the jet black humour in this, the rest of the film is more lighter, more of a relief, which is ironic as we are following Joe to his most certain demise.Ryan plays three characters in this, and I believe she is a subliminal narrative arc, depicting Joes different stages of character, as each character Ryan plays becomes more confident, more stronger than the last, much like Joes metamorphosis during the film.Hanks is as reliable as he ever was in his kooky stage, and the fantastic chemistry is evident between the two. It's certainly an acquired taste, it can be pretty bleak in parts, but it has been unfairly overlooked.

That pretty much sums up this 1990 film starring Tom Hanks as a miserable man stuck in an uninspiring job. After learning he's going to die in six months, he accepts an offer to live it up for a couple of weeks and sacrifice himself in a volcano on some nondescript Pacific island.Right off the bat, the movie tips off that it's more fantasy than reality. There's a great message about not selling your life -- your dreams -- for whatever pathetic wage they're offering at the local factory or whatever the case. But the final act fizzles out in Giligan's Island cartooniness.Meg Ryan co-stars in a three-pronged role.GRADE: C+

John Patrick Shanley both wrote and directed this quirky comedy that stars Tom Hanks as put-upon worker Joe Banks, who finally quits his depressing dead-end job after being told he has a "brain cloud" by Dr. Ellison(played by Robert Stack) Despondent, Joe ponders suicide but is interrupted by multi-millionaire Mr. Graynamore(played by Lloyd Bridges) who offers Joe a deal: he will live like a king before jumping into the volcano of a Pacific island to appease the tribal chief, with whom he has dealings. Joe agrees, and meets three different women(all played by Meg Ryan) until the last, Patricia, with whom he falls in love, as they make the fateful sailing journey together... Delightful film is decidedly different and odd, but also charming and unpredictable, with two appealing lead performances and many funny scenes. Becomes more of a life-affirming fable than a straight narrative story, explaining credibility issues, with a sweet ending.