Volunteers
Tags: brainwashing

Plot synopsis:
Lawrence (Tom Hanks), a partying, womanizing, college student with a gambling problem, runs up a large bill with a powerful gangster who has waited long enough for his money. The obnoxious, smart mouthed Lawrence was born into a lot of money, but his father refuses to bail him out of this one. When a thug comes to collect, Lawrence remembers that his friend Kent is flying to Bangkok to join the Peace Core.
Lawrence races there to trade places with Kent to avoid getting killed. Lawrence no more then gets on the plane and realizes that he is not fitting in. He is seated next to the overly talkative and annoying Tom Tuttle (John Candy) who is a die hard and can't wait to get started. Before the flight even lands, Larry wires his dad, to get out of going and then seats next to the beautiful Beth Wexler (Rita Wilson) and makes a move. Disgusted by his dishonest playboy maneuvers, she tries to avoid him. The problem is that Tom, Larry, and Beth are taken to a secluded village in a dangerous part of the jungle, to build a bridge. Soon after Larry starts teaching the locals how to play cards, he encounters the ruthless drug lord of the land. He gives Larry 6 weeks to finish the bridge so it can be used to traffic drugs faster. He has no choice but to agree to make it happen because his life depends on it.
Meanwhile, Tom has been kidnapped, and brainwashed into a communist army Hell bent on stopping the bridge from being built. Larry gets the locals and Beth to start working themselves sick.
As Tom returns he does not let on that he is there to stop the construction. Of course he is amazed that Larry, the self absorbed slacker has got a good start and is organizing the locals in an impressive way. Of course he gets his hands on some perks from home and wins favor with Beth again, after he opens his own bar. The bridge gets built and life is good, well, unit Beth gets kidnapped. An attempt on Larry's life fail and he and his local friend, At Toon set out on a zany adventure to rescue his new love, Beth. Escaping the drug lord's palace and henchmen is no easy task, but they get back to the village and they prepare for a counter attack.The plan is to blow up the bridge, but Tom has gone nuts and tries to blow them up. Then, all unholy Hell breaks loose and the village comes together. As the drug lord's regime come from one direction to cross the bridge, the commies come from another. The villagers'attempt to blow the bridge fails and Larry must play the hero and go out to the middle of it and fix the detonator. Of course he succeeds and he and Beth stay in the village to live happily ever after.
The end.

Review: I don't see why this film has such a bad reputation, and is probably regarded as the worst in Tom Hanks' career.
Adding to the comic relief are Gedde Watanabe (of "Sixteen Candles") and the always-funny John Candy.
"Volunteers" successfully spoofs more classic films than any other - from Casablanca, through Bridge over the River Kwai, to Lawrence of Arabia, they're all there if you're watching carefully enough.It also offers a glimpse of a much younger, fresher and more natural Tom Hanks than the over-processed multi-millionaire product we see so much of today.Full of belly-laughs and quick fire one liners, and packed with so many more subtle references that you'll have to pay close attention and watch it many times to pick up even half of them, this hilarious film really does the job.
volunteers is a great example of a movie that refuses to take its leading actors seriously and is all the better for it.
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 a very funny, well written, well acted film.
If you're not paying attention, you might miss it.Tom Hanks is perfect as Lawrence Bourne III, the Ivy League cad.
John Candy is at the top of his form as the brainwashed Tom Tuttle from Tacoma.
And Rita Wilson is totally convincing as the idealistic Peace Corps volunteer out to teach the masses the advantages of Self-Styling Adorn.If you don't think the ratings are off on this one, I suggest this test.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking an hour-and-a-half of belly laughs..
I liked this one, it's heart was in the right place, I esp enjoyed John Candy as 'Tom Tuttle' from Tacoma.
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.
Volunteers say we don't.Tom Hanks isn't as convincing as he is in his later movies, but it's his teamwork with late John Candy that really gives a spark to this movie.
I must have watched it at least four times, and John Candy has really made me feel great every time..
Besides, Tom Hanks met his wife while filming this picture (she co-stars).
If you like Tom Hanks and John Candy, you are sure to enjoy this movie.
It is not nearly as bad as many present-day movies rated "R", and I would not hesitate to have my grandchildren (11 and 13) watch it.Bill.
Lawrence Bourne III (Tom Hanks) is a blueblood, snooty Harvard senior.
His only recourse is to ask his erstwhile roommate to switch identities with him, with Lawrence hopping a plane to Thailand as part of the Peace Corps and escaping the mob.
Everyone is singing inspirational songs and looking forward to bringing cheer and good works to the Thai people.
However, things look up when a good-looking fellow Corpswoman, Beth (Rita Wilson) is assigned to the same village, along with gung-ho engineer, Tom Tuttle of Tacoma (John Candy).
Hanks and Candy are very humorous while Plimpton is a scream in a brief role as the can't-be-bothered-with-details father.
John Candy is great, Rita Wilson is wonderful, and the native characters add authentic flavor to the film.
Honestly, anyone who doesn't appreciate the acting ability of Tom Hanks in this humor-filled picture is missing a lot.
This is the kind of film you could watch a few times to fully appreciate all the underlying gags and subtle jokes.
Ok as far as Tom Hanks comedies it's not in the top ten.
But this Tom Hanks/ John Candy situation comedy is far better than the crummy critics tell you..
Firstly I'd like to take a second and say this is maybe only the second time I have ever written a review and it was great to see the love others have for this film.
Biggest shock was how slim john was in this movie, still a big guy but he looked great!
Hanks is definitely the king of film but his early work in more comedic roles should be more appreciated.
The basic plot is Hanks is a rich prick in serious debt and joins the peace corps to get away from it all.
While in Thailand, Tom Hanks has to learn to become a better person.
One of Hanks' earlier films, it shows off his natural humor and appeal.
Takes place mostly in Thailand where Candy and Hanks are supposed to be building a bridge to improve the locals' infrastructure and living conditions.
Along the way, they've got to deal with a whacked out, over zealous CIA agent, a local Communist military leader, and the local drug lords and his sumo bodyguards.I highly recommend this movie - John Candy and Tom Hanks always shine as a comedic pair and this movie is no exception.
Hanks' cluelessly privileged character coupled with Candy's overzealous patriotic naivety is a perfect comedic match-up.Overall rating: 8 out of 10..
Come on Hanks, Candy, and the entire cast couldn't have been picked better than they were to represent America and the Communists from 1962.
Here Hanks takes a snobbish wealthy no good selfish student whose life was going no where through gambling debts and re- routes his talents for making friends and creates a whole new life.
It is somewhat entertaining and kind of funny to see Tom Hanks and John Candy acting silly.
Something similar would be Bachelor Party which I think was slightly funnier than this.If you want to watch a funny, entertaining light hearted movie from the 80's I would recommend The Great Outdoors before I would watch this movie..
Lawrence Bourne III (Tom Hanks) is a spoiled rich playboy.
US official John Reynolds (Tim Thomerson) assigns him, Tom Tuttle from Tacoma (John Candy) and Beth Wexler (Rita Wilson) to build a bridge.
Definitely not one of Tom Hank's best.
Watching this movie, you have to wonder how this guy ever became such a great actor.
Hanks and Candy turn in decent performances, but it's like the tone of the film is at odds with the story material and dialogue.
What this film is supposed to be I simply don't know, because it certainly doesn't help rectify anything in the story (though the bad guys get theirs, the Peace Corps.
but it's still not funny).I think the truly last funny film I saw prior to the big 1980's down turn in the comedy genre, from which the film industry has never recovered, was Splash, which, perhaps ironically enough, was another John Candy vehicle.
But Volunteers doesn't have the ounce of wit compared to Ron Howard's film.I did try seeing this thing again on HBO a year or two later, but it was just as vapid then as it was when I saw it on opening night.Avoid this.
Hit-and-miss comedy reuniting 'brothers' Hanks & Candy.
VOLUNTEERS (1985) **1/2 Tom Hanks, John Candy, Rita Wilson, Tim Thomerson, Gedde Watanabe, George Plimpton.
Frequently amusing comedy set in the 60s Peace Corps with motley crew of pampered playboy Hanks with the rank and file Candy and lovely Wilson stationed in Thailand trying to assemble a footbridge for the native populace.
Did you ever think to yourself, "Man, that Bridge on the River Kwai was okay, but it should have been a comedy!?" Me neither.
Tom Hanks, the star of this crap, has said that there are some movies he wishes he could remove from his resume.
Volunteers should be one of them, but might not be since he met his long-time wife Rita Wilson through it - love shows up at the kookiest times, huh?
John Candy is hands down the most irritating part with his lousy Tom Tuttle character, and it's quite embarrassing to see our precious Hanks act a fool and throw away lines in a lame "rich Harvard boy" stereotypical dialect.
If you really want to see Hanks and Candy paired up in a much better film, see Splash.
Snotty Ivy League student Tom Hanks hops on a Peace Corps plane to 1960s Southeast Asia to elude gambling debts.
He immediately meets love interest Rita Wilson and screw-ball John Candy as the trio gets immersed in an elaborate scheme to build a bridge ala "Bridge on the River Kwai" and fall in with brainwashed Communists and deviant drug pushers.
Tom Hanks is some kind of Errol Flynn clone here as his antics obviously won the heart of co-star Wilson as the duo are married still today.
Poorly done comedy with great lead actors to salvage it a bit.The script,screenplay,directing and editing were carelessly done.The producers seemed to know the movie will profit from the bankable lead stars.It could have ruined both Hanks and Candy later on in their careers if not for the other comedy they made around the same time called SPLASH which is one of the greatest comedies of all.Avoid VOLUNTEERS unless you are a really big fan of Hanks or Candy who have their good moments in a scene or two......
Tom Hanks stars in this sorry comedy as a gambler who is deeply in debt.
John Candy does little to heighten the film.
All the elements were there: Tom Hanks, John Candy, the high-minded ideals of the Peace Corps, Red China and brainwashing.
But these "Volunteers" seem to have chosen a no-win assignment.Even Watanabe, the exchange student in "Sixteen Candles", fails to deliver any laughs as a local who helps Hanks and Candy communicate with his people.
In fact, the funniest parts of the whole movie are Thomerson's as a gung-ho soldier of misfortune who acts tough but still yells "GOL-DARN!" as he falls off a high bridge into the water below.Candy tries but aside from an isolated moment or two as his patented good-hearted bumbler, there's nothing that makes this worth his time.And Hanks....
Maybe he thought he was in a serious movie?TIDBIT - It was on this movie where Hanks met his future wife Rita Wilson.
Strange height difference between Tom Hanks and Tim Thomerson.
A wittier & funnier Screenplay was the need of the day!'Volunteers' Synopsis: Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt.
After his father refuses to help him out, Lawrence escapes his angry debtors by jumping on a Peace Corp flight to Southeast Asia, where is assigned to build a bridge for the local villagers with American-As-Apple-Pie WSU Grad Tom Tuttle and the beautiful and down-to earth Beth Wexler.
Performance-Wise: Tom Hanks is terrific, as always.
The Late/Great John Candy gets limited scope, but he doesn't fail to engage.
Tom Hanks and John Candy lead us on this shallow, silly tour of an unusually volatile Peace Corp mission to Thailand.
Candy and Hanks act well in this stinker, but have no material to work with.
Even John Candy's nerd character can not say this one.
A badly written, poorly acted film that wastes the talents of Hanks and Candy.
The film, however has some value for it was here that Hanks met and married his second wife, co-star, Rita Wilson..
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!".
Hanks gives his trademark "horrified" look and says, "So...this is Hell!".Everyone here has covered other parts of the film quite well, so I will just echo their sentiments by agreeing that this is an underrated film , and that the other performances are wonderful: John Candy as "Tom Tuttle, Tacoma, Washington" is hilarious as the over-zealous engineer with good intentions but no cultural awareness.
When John tells Beth he'll show her a good time soon, he says it will be "Just you, me and Mike".
*Shudder*!Anyone who misses the "old" Tom Hanks (and just misses Candy!) should see this film again, back when Hanks was obviously not thinking about Oscars and just having a hell of a good time being hilarious..
Well, this was that period of time when Tom Hanks was beginning to be a box office draw, but before he learned what real acting was.
And in terms of John Candy, at this point in his career, his acting consisted of being a buffoon.
I'm a fan from the earliest days of both Tom Hanks & John Candy, but this movie never delivers on any of the comic potential both actors had at the time.
Hanks and Candy played brothers in the funny Splash (1984), but neither did as well with their characters in this film.I suppose it was the weak script, because they are good comic actors, and Nicholas Meyer is a good director who had already proved that to me a few years prior with Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, if not in earlier flicks like Time After Time (1979) and The Seven Percent Solution (1976).The identity-switch premise is standard comic fare, and we know that in the end, the Hanks character will take on the identity he is faking and do what that character would do.
Likewise for getting the girl.Hanks & Candy could have carried off the predictable jokes a lot better than they did, and the Candy set-up for the brainwashing in the swipe of a screen was so weak I almost missed it.
It too, could have worked better.Rita Wilson was a poor choice as the love-interest.
I guess she's okay in minor supporting roles, and I know a few people who liked her as the love-interest in Mixed Nuts (1994), but in this role, her exasperation with life in the jungle jokes, in juxtaposition to Hanks' ease with it, are weakly played and not very funny.There are some spots where the script allows the actors to be funny, but they are few and far between, and often underplayed.
I know enough of the tastes of my friends and clients to say there are about half of them who would like this movie okay enough, and half who would wish they had watched something else, like Splash, if they wanted to see Hanks & Candy together.Thus, I would rate this movie as Average (5 out of 10), but just barely.
If you find it in a bargain-bin, as I did, you might want to pick it up if you are a Hanks and Candy fan and already have Splash, but I would rather spend my money on the latter if I didn't already have it.