CAST AWAY
2000

January 4, 2001

Century Capitol

Tom Hanks.

Fed Ex go-go employee is stranded on an island after his plane crashes.

Hanks gives another 'performance of the year' as he silently adapts to his surroundings on an isolated island. There isn't much of a plot. Hanks is a busy management type with Fed Ex (There has never been a more sympathetic and rah rah product ever presented in motion picture history). He loves Helen Hunt who we see for a good 4 minutes at the beginning. One of his transport planes crashes in a harrowing water landing (though not as harrowing as FEARLESS). He survives only to wash up on a desert island with no tools and little know-how. We learn along with him how to open cocoanuts, spear fish, and find shelter. Without Hanks here, you'd never be able to take it, especially with little dialogue and no music. Hanks is such a charismatic actor that you watch his every move. His acting is very believable, but we know it's Hanks on an island and peril will not come to him. On a related note, the trailer did a great disservice to the film by showing him 'escape' from the island. I've heard arguments that the story was deeper than 'will he or won't he survive'. But I'm sorry, every time he cuts himself, appears to be starving to death, or almost drowns while on the island, we feel no nervousness because we've seen him get home. Perhaps it was a pre-emptive strike by Zemekis, but I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if I was worried as he looks over a cliff. I found myself concentrating on the acting and the scenery. They were both pleasing to the eye. From the second a tanker drives by his raft, the movie could have ended. But they pile on a few scenes, some of which hit the mark (Hanks investigates the all-seafood buffet spread in his luxury hotel suite), and some of which are terrible (Hanks sleeps on the floor like Crocodile Dundee). His later scenes with a now-married Hunt are pretty heartbreaking and Hunt finds a way to achieve a clingy wet-t-shirt look that won her an Oscar in AS GOOD AS IT GETS. There is a cross-roads scene that was unnecessary and amateurish with a final smile on Hanks' face.