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Volunteers
Movie:
Volunteers is a comedy from 1985 starring Tom Hanks, John Candy, Rita Wilson, and Tim Thomerson. Lawrence Bourne III (Hanks), an arrogant college student from wealthy parents, owes $14000 to the owner of a local club, which he has to pay before he graduates the following day. He decides to go double or nothing with him on the Lakers-Celtics game, and, of course, loses. On the run for $28000, he pleads with his father to loan him the money, but in order for his son to learn self-reliance and responsibility, he refuses. Lawrence then sees no other choice but to take his roommate's place on the plane to Thailand to join the Peace Corps. On the way to Thailand, he meets Beth Wexler (Wilson) and Tom Tuttle (Candy) who are to be stationed with him in a small village with the task of building a bridge. After arriving and being greeted by John, the Peace Corps Leader (Thomerson), Tom sets out to work on the bridge, Beth works on teaching the natives the importance of boiling water, and Lawrence teaches the natives how to gamble. It isn't long before things start to go awry: Tom is captured by the communists and brainwashed, and Lawrence is captured by a local drug lord and persuaded to finish the bridge in six weeks in exchange for $48000 and a ticket home. But both their goals are to see the bridge finished, and ultimately, it is. However, once the bridge is completed, John reveals his true colors as a CIA agent who needs the bridge to track down and kill the communists. He kidnaps Beth, taking her to the stronghold of the local drug lord, leading Lawrence on a rescue mission.
Although the movie drags a bit near the end, it remains a fairly entertaining comedy. Hanks, Wilson, and Candy put in some decent performances, and the plot, while nothing spectacular, does keep the film moving along.
Picture:
Volunteers is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. There are some marks and some grain present throughout the film, although its not too distracting for the notable exception of chapter fourteen, which has heavy grain. For a film fifteen years old, the print used (chapter fourteen excluded) is terrific with vibrant colors and accurate flesh tones.
Sound:
Volunteers is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The dialogue is clean and crisp throughout and the background score sounds excellent.
Extras:
Volunteers includes seven cast and crew bios; subtitles in English, French, and Spanish; and the original theatrical trailer, although it's a bit rough with marks and lines.
Summary:
Volunteers is a fairly entertaining comedy film that makes the perfect rental for fans of the actors with above average picture and sound quality.
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