Volunteers (1985)

Jocky Giles and I saw this on the plane out to America for a working summer, and we spent a lot of time in Montauk bars reliving the great moments from this film (and the book 'Money'). "I think I put in the hours" still gets the occasional outing, whilst Tom Tuttle from Tacoma Washington still enters my head whenever I see John Candy on TV, or even hear two T's together. I really hope Tom Hanks doesn't dislike this film – whilst it goes a bit chase-sequency at the end (as does Splash) the first half has so many gems in it to forgive the rest.

Just as Hugh Grant is funniest and most watchable when he's a foul-mouthed cad, it would be good if Tom Hanks played a misanthropic but funny middle-aged man rather than just Tom, nice-but-dull. Give Bill Murray a run, or at least an audition, for his money. And if a film is going to be taken off his CV – please, the nauseating, unbearable Forrest Gump.

Last line to Tim Thomerson. "This is Mike. Mike's my knife"

Fmovies: I liked this one, it's heart was in the right place, I esp enjoyed John Candy as 'Tom Tuttle' from Tacoma. He was a fun guy. And the self-effacing humour-where they read the subtitles and such, goes a long ways towards making this one work.

The plot is shallow and derivative, the performances alright but nothing special. I still have fond memories of 'Volunteers'-and think that they did a decent job overall.

**1/2 outta **** , not bad.

It's been 15 years since I've seen this film, but still; Everytime I hear Tom Hanks name, it's the first thing to pop into my head.

For those who have enjoyed Tom's more recent movies, it's a must see. You can really see the development in his career.

For those who have never really been interested in any of Tom's more recent "chick flicks", this movie will show you the old Tom, before he realized that... well... Chick Flicks = Oscars and $$$.

I'm surprised I don't see it more often on T.V.

(but I guess Oscars=money, or is it time=money.... no... Opium=money and money=power.... or is it Opium=power and.... No.. Power=mon...)

-=-Inside joke for those who've seen the movie-=-

Volunteers fmovies. One of the funniest movies you'll find in the 99 cent rental section. Probably one of the late John Candy's most hilarious roles and you can see glimpses of the great actor that Tom Hanks has become. This movie is an excellent spoof of several movies, most notably, The Bridge on the River Kwai. I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking an hour-and-a-half of belly laughs.

GREAT movie! One of the classics of the 80s! I love Tom Hanks & John Candy together--good foils-in fact, the two of them and Rita Wilson are a good example of very different personalities being forced to live and work together--we have all been there! And Gedde Watanabe (aka Long Duc Dong from "Sixteen Candles") is classic--he gets many of the best lines ("What have we learned, Dorothy?", etc). The subtitle gag was totally stolen by Mike Myers for his subsequent Wayne's World, the funny graphics/maps was stolen for EuroTrip (and many others)...it's just too amusing! And it's nice to find a comedy that has a sweet message too-this one fits the bill.

I was surprised to see Volunteers rate out at just a 5 on a scale of 10. But that rating is pretty consistent across all demographics, so maybe I'm just a sucker for Hanks and Candy. I *know* I'm a sucker for Rita Wilson.

Still, I thought the movie offered several good laughs, solid performances from all the principal characters, and a feel-good ending. If nothing else, it should have taught you the words to Washington State University's fight song!

If you haven't seen it, rent it with an open mind. It REALLY IS better than a 5.