Very Cool!!!

Lack of good storyline.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

'Volunteers' has a few sparkling moments, but they are few & far between. A wittier & funnier Screenplay was the need of the day!'Volunteers' Synopsis: Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt. After his father refuses to help him out, Lawrence escapes his angry debtors by jumping on a Peace Corp flight to Southeast Asia, where is assigned to build a bridge for the local villagers with American-As-Apple-Pie WSU Grad Tom Tuttle and the beautiful and down-to earth Beth Wexler. What they don't realize is that the bridge is coveted by the U.S. Army, a local Communist force, and a powerful drug lord. Trouble Follows...Despite an interesting premise, 'Volunteers' doesn't amuse much. The jokes here range from good to bland. The first-hour is dull, while the second-hour picks up & offers a truly funny last act. Keith F. Critchlow, David Isaacs & Ken Levine's Screenplay appeals, but only in bits. Nicholas Meyer's Direction is decent. Cinematography is striking. Editing isn't impressive. Performance-Wise: Tom Hanks is terrific, as always. He elevates the film at times, with his impeccable comic-timing. The Late/Great John Candy gets limited scope, but he doesn't fail to engage. Rita Wilson is sweet. Tim Thomerson is alright.On the whole, 'Volunteers' is so-so!

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.

VOLUNTEERS was the second and last time Tom Hanks was teamed with one of the few television based comedians who could match him as a film actor: John Candy. They had been brothers in SPLASH, and VOLUNTEERS makes them fellow members of the Peace Corps. They proved to have good chemistry again here - but no follow-up film showed up for them after this. Pity, but maybe just as well as they each would make their own line of comic masterpieces.VOLUNTEERS is also one of the first times that Hanks plays a somewhat unlikeable (if charming) type. Lawrence Osborne IV is a patrician who has just gone through four years at Yale University. We never know what his major was, but he certainly has enjoyed extra-curriculum activities (such as dating the valedictorian of Smith College), and winning multi-thousand dollar poker matches with vicious opponents. But Lawrence owes a gambling hall owner (Alan Arbus) $14,000.00, and decides to bet it all double or nothing on the outcome of a basketball championship the next day (his graduation date from Yale). He is listening to the game on a radio (while missing the speech by guest speaker President John F. Kennedy) at the ceremony - and hears his bet going down the tubes. That night he asks his father (George Plimpton) for the $28,000. But the senior Osborne actually is very realistic - he feels that being beaten and injured for such a stupid bet is just what Lawrence needs, and he refuses to pay the bet. Chased by Arbus's bouncer/collector (Ji-Tu Cumbuku, as a no-nonsense collector who will go as far as possible to get Lawrence, whom he hates), Lawrence hies to New York's Idlewild Airport, and manages to get onto a plane as a member of the Peace Corps group going to Thailand.Lawrence meets Beth Wexler (Rita Wilson - now Mrs. Hanks in real life), a New York medical student, and Tom Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington (Candy) who is an intensive student of management psychiatry. Candy is also an engineer. When they are taken to a village for their service by helicopter operator John Reynolds (Tim Thompson) they find they are assigned to build a bridge connecting this village with the other shore. Soon it turns out that others are interested in that bridge: the local war lord and opium dealer (Chumg Mee - Ernest Harada) and the local Communists insurgents. While Lawrence tries to get back home (and finds his wise father has made it impossible for him to do so), he finds that he has annoyed Beth (who is more impressed by Reynolds), and he is dealing with the over-active and inept Tuttle. But soon Tuttle vanishes into the jungle (and into the hands of the Communists) while Lawrence finds he needs to rely on a smart local villager (Gedde Wantanabe) which is good because both men are threatened by the war lord to get that bridge built or else. What follows is a delight, as Lawrence does build the bridge, and then realizes (much as Col. Nicholson does at the end of THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) that it was a dreadful mistake, and the poor villagers are in danger from two evil groups as a result.Hanks never loses his charm and insouciance, even as he grows into a responsible local leader. Candy is a wonder as an would-be world saver, an over-achiever who insults people as he tries to show he has a heart. Wilson is good explaining how she wants to help the villagers, speaking in Thai - but telling how she wants to kill them! Wantanabe is constantly finding his warnings and realistic view of the situation is ignored and he gets injured as a result (or even sexually threatened by a trio of sumo-wrestler guards of the War Lord). And Thompson has only one really close friend - his knife. He makes George Macready's relationship with his sword stick in GILDA look matter-of-fact in comparison. Finally there is a definite love affair with David Lean in this film. Besides the similarities with THE RIVER KWAI (including Candy whistling "Col. Bogie's March" and saying, "What have I done!") there is the concluding shot of Hanks (having brought prosperity to the village) being cheered by the people with cries of "Lawrence, Lawrence!". Wonderful comedy here.

Snotty Ivy League student Tom Hanks hops on a Peace Corps plane to 1960s Southeast Asia to elude gambling debts. He immediately meets love interest Rita Wilson and screw-ball John Candy as the trio gets immersed in an elaborate scheme to build a bridge ala "Bridge on the River Kwai" and fall in with brainwashed Communists and deviant drug pushers. Not near as interesting as it all sounds as Hanks does what he can early, but then the whole thing crumbles as our heroes begin to get put into dumb situation after dumb situation. Tom Hanks is some kind of Errol Flynn clone here as his antics obviously won the heart of co-star Wilson as the duo are married still today. Other than that tidbit though, "Volunteers" makes no lasting impression. 2 stars out of 5.