Blueghost
I saw this in the theatre, and could appreciate the comedy, but just didn't think it was that good.I just don't know what the heck it was with comedy when it came to the 1980s. There just haven't been all many funny films. And the comedies that are made have very blue humor in it which is insulting to the core. Are American audiences that vapid? Comedies in the 70s and before truly were funny, but then suddenly jokes were made about really low brow criminal behaviors. Volunteers was epidemic of that trend. Hanks and Candy turn in decent performances, but it's like the tone of the film is at odds with the story material and dialogue. And it's a trend that's been with us for a couple of decades plus now, going on nearly 30 years. I just don't get it.Volunteers deals with antics of the Peace Corps and volunteers therein. There's a rogue trying to escape from criminal and personal complications, there's a loving woman who falls for a psycho, and there's the all American who gets Shanghaid and returned with more than just mixed feelings on his mission and heritage. This is a comedy? Hanks plays the overblown high class preppy who's looking for an out, and doesn't seem to come across as sympathetic in the least in this role. And then there's the special forces vet with his pet knife "Mike", along with the female coordinator who tries to be the level headed type anchoring the characters and story.In short, the film was a mess. Not a real tragedy or bomb of a mess, but it simply had no reason for being. Films are made to try and inspire us, and perhaps help guide our moral compasses by showing us examples of right and wrong. Well, films also help us live out fantasies. What this film is supposed to be I simply don't know, because it certainly doesn't help rectify anything in the story (though the bad guys get theirs, the Peace Corps. mission is completed, and the right guy gets the right girl in the end ... but it's still not funny).I think the truly last funny film I saw prior to the big 1980's down turn in the comedy genre, from which the film industry has never recovered, was Splash, which, perhaps ironically enough, was another John Candy vehicle. But Volunteers doesn't have the ounce of wit compared to Ron Howard's film.I did try seeing this thing again on HBO a year or two later, but it was just as vapid then as it was when I saw it on opening night.Avoid this. Do your brain a favor and go rent or stream a Three Stooges marathon or something.
LolitaHayes
Volunteers is one of those films that hits the ground running. Though it may lag a bit later on, it is definitely worth watching, just for the opening scenes.Some of the funniest bits occur in the movie's first 15 minutes. After a great intro montage of early 60's images (Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, Hula Hoops, The Alka-Seltzer kid, Khrushchev and JFK) the last images fades, into Kennedy's famous "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech. (JFK also speaks at the Yale graduation later--did this happen? Didn't JFK got to Harvard?) The scene cuts to a seedy bar in New Haven (a mere five years before the Doors would be arrested there at a concert! Amazing how times changed so quickly). Lawrence Bourne III, a Yalie with an upper-crust WASP, Maine accent is gambling , with some scary guys. His girlfriend, a snooty "Smithie" named "Bootsie", tells him "What the hell, Lawrence; it's only money?" before he wins around 11 grand on a bluff. An odd guy named Cicero (Ji-tu Tumbuku) threatens him with a knife, saying he'll kill him and everyone he knows. The guy seriously looks ready to have a stroke. Lawrence still baits him by pretending he can't understand him, then leaves with a backward hand wave and a "Ciao". Bourne and the girl go out to chat with the owner, who is termed "my only Italian friend" by the preppie. He owes this guy from a previous bet and they bet on the Celtic-Lakers game that conveniently takes place at mid-day during Lawrence's graduation. He doubles the bet to $28,000 and loses, as the bar owner and the Cicero watch, all with transistor radio ear-buds, listening in. He is told to get the money by sundown or else. Prior to that, we are treated to a bit of college dorm nostalgia as we see Lawrence's roommate laying outside the door, listening to the couple make vigorous love inside. "Now, now, NOW!" yells the girl and Lawrence's roommate, Kent Sutcliffe (Xander Berkely, upon whom I think Jack Black's "School of Rock" roommate, Ned Shneebly, might be based!) echoes it while pounding on the door. He enters, tells them he needs to get ready and we get a taste of Hanks' dry humor as he pulls out a stethoscope from beneath camouflage net. "Well, then we'd to get down to the actual sex then, hadn't we, Bootsie?" I love it! She is unfazed by Kent's presence and questions Kent about his gear (that she and Lawrence were using for bedsheets!) and asks, "What are you going, the Peace Corps?" He tells her he is and she drawls, "I was JOKING..." Kent obliquely implies that she and Lawrence are selfish, unlike him, as he is "going to Thailand to help people". He mentions that he's leaving that night. SPOILERS: Somehow, Lawrence makes it from New Haven to Maine (a several-hour drive) for a congratulatory dinner at the family mansion, after which he asks his dad, played with delicious, WASP dizziness by George Plimpton, for a loan. To his shock,his father denies him, saying it will build character, and if they DO "break his hips", he'll have to learn to use a walker. It's clear Lawrence got his warped sense of humor from his father. Just then, Cicero shows up and the father talks to him while Lawrence bolts in his Corvette. There is a classic gag, but with a twist, with two lines racing down I-95 to New York with a map that zooms in slowly until it shows the airport map and the Corvette blasts through it onto the tarmac, conveniently close to Kent's plane.Bourne begs Kent to swap places and the roomie reveals his true personality as he finally agrees, but only if he can "have" Bootsie ("Go ahead!" says Lawrence, "Everyone else has!") and the Corvette's title signed over to him. THAT hurts, says Lawrence, but agrees. He boards the plane, slamming the door in Cicero's face, who now clings to the outside of the plane, in a great sight gag. Lawrence turns and looks through the curtain into the cabin. Everyone is swaying back and forth and singing "Puff the Magic Dragon"! Hanks gives his trademark "horrified" look and says, "So...this is Hell!".Everyone here has covered other parts of the film quite well, so I will just echo their sentiments by agreeing that this is an underrated film , and that the other performances are wonderful: John Candy as "Tom Tuttle, Tacoma, Washington" is hilarious as the over-zealous engineer with good intentions but no cultural awareness. Rita Wilson's "Long Island" accent was unconvincing, but her performance as a wide-eyed do-gooder, Beth Wexler, was spot-on. Gedde Watanabe as At Toon, the fast-talking kid who went to an American School in Bangkok, has some of the best lines in the film. At a crucial moment, Lawrence fears for their lives and At Toon mockingly says, "I'm okay. I never had a woman. I built a bridge. I got touched by some fat guys. I've had a FULL life!" One of my favorite roles was John Reynolds (Tim Thomerson) , the crazed CIA operative, who names his Bowie knife "Mike" and gives Beth a VERY suggestive Burmese statue. He is an eerie foreshadowing of another comical, yet insanely right-wing Texan, whom many considered crazy, or at least much too war-happy. When John tells Beth he'll show her a good time soon, he says it will be "Just you, me and Mike". *Shudder*!Anyone who misses the "old" Tom Hanks (and just misses Candy!) should see this film again, back when Hanks was obviously not thinking about Oscars and just having a hell of a good time being hilarious.
boonewilliams
before they started winning oscars, struggling actors such as tom hanks and robin williams used to be... SURPRISE!! funny! volunteers is a great example of a movie that refuses to take its leading actors seriously and is all the better for it. this is not a "star vehicle" but is rather an irreverant tongue-in-cheek romp. it takes its cues from saturday night live, sctv, monty python, and cheesy off-broadway one-act plays. in return, it is spoofed by one particular hollywood blockbuster to follow, austin powers goldmember. mike myers must have been as impressed with the "reading the subtitles" joke, as well as the "asian guy on the toilet/being chased by sumo wrestler" schtick. but rather than beat the jokes to death, volunteers assumes we are smart enough to catch them on the fly. i bought this in a $5.00 dvd bin, and was reminded why i liked the movie so much in the first place. it is never particularly mean to any of its subjects, including the primitive thai villagers, the communist revolutionaries, yalies, jews, liberals, conservatives, or any of the other fringe elements put into play. as a result, volunteers doesn't insult me as an intelligent movie viewer. by the way, i had forgotten how humorously effective was the "lawrence's bar" scene where the local musician plinks out an oddly romantic version of "as time goes by" on an asian sitar.
volunteers is the sort of movie actors must do just for fun. y'know... when they're not too busy trying to win oscars.
