"WILSON!  WILSSOOOOOONNNN!!!!!!"

CAST AWAY (PG-13)

Reviewed December 26, 2000 - Check out the Cast Away Website.

Studio Synopsis: In Cast Away, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis and two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks reunite to explore the blessings and heartache of fate and the survival of the human spirit. Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock. His fast-paced career takes him, often at a moment's notice, to far-flung locales -and away from his girlfriend Kelly, played by Helen Hunt. Chuck's manic existence abruptly ends when, after a plane crash, he becomes isolated on a remote island - cast away into the most desolate environment imaginable. Stripped of the conveniences of everyday life, he first must meet the basic needs of survival, including water, food and shelter. Chuck, the consummate problem solver, eventually figures out how to sustain himself physically. But then what? Chuck begins his true personal journey.

Fuzzydog Review: It's "Survivor" meets "Gilligan's Island" meets Blue Lagoon, except that in Cast Away there's no island host, there's no stranded companions and there's no hostile natives on the island.  It's just Tom Hanks, some FedEx packages and a volleyball...that's it!

Okay, so first things first: Tom Hanks is brilliant.  He's been brilliant for a long time and nothing changes here in Cast Away.  Taking his one-man performance and punctuating it with moments of both comedic genius and highly intense drama is no small feat, and Hanks (with Zemeckis' direction) manages to pull it off easily.  Unfortunately, besides Hanks' natural talents there's really not much more to this island adventure.  He's stranded, he's confused, he fumbles around for a while then he learns to cope.  What next?  Like it or not, there's a novelty factor to Hanks' predicament that inevitably wears off, and for me it wore off about an hour into the film.  Maybe this is something that could have been reversed by an original or intriguing ending, but no such luck here.  Excuse the analogy, but Cast Away feels like a ship that was set adrift with no sail, no anchor and no compass.  Adrift at sea, just like it's main character.  It's interesting for a little while, but it's not very long before you wish you could just jump overboard and put yourself out of your misery... :P

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

anonymous entry gives this movie  stars: "Wilson should have gotten an Academy Award for best supporting actor!!!!!!" (7/28/01)

riconm@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "You guys are ridiculous. Of COURSE she was going to move on after four years. She's supposed to wait for a dead guy to come back to life? Pleeeze!! I think it was a GREAT ending in that he may end up with the woman who sent the Fed Ex package that gave him the idea for making a sail." (7/14/01)

x_bulldog@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Tom Hanks did a great job in this movie but the plot just wasn't good! The movie started out great but the ending SUCKED!!! " (6/14/01)

jkeith@ffadlaw.com gives this movie  stars: "I loved this movie, but I have always loved Tom Hanks. I think he is an incredible actor. I didn't like the ending though, I think she should have waited for him. If they loved each other that much - she would have waited, unless she knew for sure that he was dead. Tom would be worth waiting for!" (6/7/01)

rahrah0317@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "I liked this movie alot. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It ended dumb. He should have got the girl." (1/31/01)

scooter gives this movie  stars: "top film" (1/15/01)