Under the Volcano

A very fine film indeed, and fascinating from a number of viewpoints: for one of the truly great characterization performances ever filmed, by Albert Finney, for its grim, unromanticized, portrayal of extreme alcoholism, for a career-defining performance by Jacquilene Bisset... Full review

Under the Volcano could have made as just another 'Lost Weekend' film if not for the attention to a simple narrative (though one that has a lot underneath the surface), and a performance to compellingly take us through the unbalanced... Full review

starring Albert Finney, what can u say, the best actor of all time in one of his best of the best. in my top ten list of all time movies, this movie will rock yur head!!!! intense, emotional, riveting.....its sooooooooooooooo bad... Full review

This film is to Leaving Las Vegas as The Howling is to Little Red Riding Hood. Under The Volcano is the most grindingly real portrayal of the true devastation of alcoholism ever put on film (I've seen them all from... Full review

Albert Finney's performance of alcoholism is shattering and spot on. This movie should be required as adjunctive therapy in the field of alcoholism recovery. The feeling of hopelessness that permeates this movie makes it an experience the viewer should be... Full review

I saw this film several times in the late 1980's and always thought that Albert Finney's performance was great but now, watching it all these years later in the very city in which it was set and shot I am... Full review

It is the finale of this film that redeems any possible weakness of the story one may entertain in one's mind as one views this film. The ending is so overwhelming, I had to watch it again at once. I... Full review

I completely agree with Doc's review above, but I'll venture to suggest that the primary reason that the public has avoided this film is due solely to the film's very strong dose of basic human reality. Its one of my... Full review

Under The Volcano was originally a complex novel written by real-life alcoholic Malcolm Lowry. Film director John Huston also had a passing acquaintanceship with the bottle and a sensibility for grasping the dark, mystical side of Mexican culture. This all... Full review

This is one of those movies that is always in the discount pile, "Any Rental--99cents'. You find it at garage sales and the like, although I never know why. Perhaps it's the atrocious artwork. Seems a lot of video store... Full review

Immeasurably aided by Albert Finney's devouring performance as Firmin, which remains one of the most involving and comprehensive depictions of addiction ever filmed, Huston's "Under the Volcano" is ultimately worthy of the consul, even if in other respects it is only a patch on the novel. ... Full Review

There is a canny scene where Geoffrey lays down on a bed with his ex-wife Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset, at her most gracious and clever) and begins reminiscing about old times. The famed companys luxurious artwork and their dedication to filling each releases extras quota to the brim is renowned, and Under the Volcano is no exception. ... Full Review

Film Value If you like hanging out with loud-mouthed Shakespearean-trained boozehounds, you will probably enjoy "Under the Volcano" a great deal more than I did.....Huston´s late-career films varied between soulless Hollywood projects ("Victory" and "Annie") and deeply personal....It´s hard to find much to recommend about the film aside from the fact....I found his performance extremely irritating;.... ... Full Review

As the limp-wristed observers of this manic process, Andrews and Bisset are at best merely decorative, at worst an embarrassment, and the film's success rests largely on an (often literally) staggering performance from Finney as the dipso diplo. ... Full Review

A s a guy who loves lists - and what guy doesn't? - I take the plea by Hamlet's father's ghost to "List, list, O, list!" as direct instruction from the Greatest Writer Who Ever Lived (see below). ... Full Article

This could be titled "in defence of the adjective and adverb." Or maybe "musing about two maligned parts of speech." The received opinion is that you use them sparingly. ... Full Article

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more. According to the blurb on the back of this Criterion DVD, Albert Finney delivers "an Oscar-nominated tour de force" as a drunkard. ... Full Article

A bizarre journey into the mystical Mexican underworld in 1939, UNDER THE VOLCANO is set during the morbid holiday known as the Day of the Dead--a day on which the souls of the dead spew forth from hell amid the... ... Full Article

The great green room in the sky is packed with actors who've done drunk with various degrees of success and authenticity, but few can match the red-eyed brilliance of Albert Finney in John Huston's adaptation of a novel which was... ... Full Article