Volunteers

Compulsive gambler Lawrence Bourne III (Hanks) joins the Peace Corps to evade a pack of creditors. In Thailand (oh yeah? And this is Patagonia) he encounters a manic blancmange (Candy), defeats the local black marketeer, an army of gooks and CIA, and gets his girl (Wilson). From titles to credits, this is a cynical exploitation of every film in the book - The Bridge on the River Kwai, Apocalypse Now, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, even Casablanca - but is by no means as good as this might suggest. A blasé Hanks redeems this string of sexist, racist, comic clichés with winning charm. It's funny.