It speaks to the commercial and critical success of Shanley's 1987 hit 'Moonstruck' that he was handed, by a major studio, the resources to make a movie as unapologetically weird as this one.

Joe Versus the Volcano achieves a kind of magnificent goofiness. Hanks and Ryan are the right actors to inhabit it, because you can never catch them going for a gag that isn't there: They inhabit the logic of this bizarre world and play by its rules.

...fares best in its oddball yet engrossing first half...

Joe Versus the Volcano stands on its own, fantastical oddities are kept grounded by the inimitable duo of Hanks & Ryan. The film proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, proclaiming that this world is beautiful. It’s a terrible shame when that is forgotten