theowinthrop 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.

James Miller 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"

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.

phillafella Tom Hanks stars in this sorry comedy as a gambler who is deeply in debt. He narrowly escapes his bookies and winds up working with the Peace Corps. Cheap laughs are the focal point of this dumb flick. The performances are very poor and the motive is not very thoughtful. John Candy does little to heighten the film. One of the many huge disappointments of Hanks's early career.1 out of 5