Script To Screen: “Joe Versus the Volcano”

A key scene toward the beginning of the 1990 movie Joe Versus the Volcano, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley.

IMDb plot summary: When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.

In this scene, we see Joe’s response at work after he’s learned he has a terminal illness.

Here is the scene from the movie:

Two things of note. First, the actors recite the dialogue almost word for word. Perhaps this is because they’re not only dealing with a script written by an Academy Award winning screenwriter (Moonstruck), but also a playwright. And there is a proud tradition in theater: Don’t screw with the writer’s dialogue.

Second, one thing Tom Hanks does do in the scene is improvise with the fake arm. None of that is in the script.

My guess: The prop was just sitting there and Hanks, being a talented improvisational actor, discussed it with Shanley, and they did a few takes with Hanks playing around with the arm. It adds a nice bit of fun and also reveals character, showing how much further Hanks’ character is willing to go to express ridicule toward his boss and his job.

Any Joe Versus the Volcano fans out there? Not the greatest movie in the world, but some really wonderful scenes. Plus Meg Ryan plays three different roles. And Hanks delivers his usual exceptional performance.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a Go Into The Story series where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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