Joe Versus the Volcano

Data
Title: Joe Versus the Volcano
Year: 1990
Length: 102 minutes
Director: John Patrick Shanley
Writer: John Patrick Shanley
Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan
With: Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda, Dan Hedaya, Barry McGovern, Amanda Plummer, Ossie Davis
Music: Georges Delerue (and non-original music)
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Editing: Richard Halsey, Kenneth Wannberg
I saw it: on video several times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a terminally ill man is hired to jump into a volcano

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). The special effects are cartoonish, and everything looks like a sound stage (despite being filmed on location), but that's all part of the whimsy. Embrace the whimsy.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Wonderfully absurd. I don't understand why there isn't more love for this movie. Maybe because everyone who watches it expects a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 3.2/4 (Very good)