| CAST AWAY Release Date: 12/01/01 Certificate: 12 Official Website Director: Robert Zemeckis Producers: Steve Starkey, Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis & Jack Rapke Screenplay: William Broyles Jr |
| I always thought 'castaway' was all one word, so perhaps the name of this latest Robert Zemeckis movie is a pun. Or another stupid American spelling. The movie starts off like most of Tom Hank's movies. As FedEx manager Chuck Noland he blandly goes through all the usual romantic-comedic motions, with his girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt). It could be any of his recent films, except he's looking a bit porkier than usual. Then one fateful night Noland gets on a plane and it crashes into the sea. The sole survivor, he washes up on an uninhabited island. The movie quickly improves. As a man fighting for his survival in an often harsh, inhospitable environment, Hanks is much more watchable than usual. I for one couldn't care less about him inevitably getting together with Meg Ryan or whoever in bland love story, but when he impales his leg ona rock, you really wince. The plane crash itself is really well exectuted. Much more harrowing and shocking even than the ones in Fight Club and Final Destination. Filming of Cast Away halted for a few months so that Hanks could lose the weight required for the role, and Zemeckis filled his days making What Lies Beneath. The second half of the movie was then shot, set some four years after Noland's arrival on the island. By this time he's gone a bit mad, which adds some humour that was lacking earlier, as he discusses his plans with Wilson, a football with a face panited onto in Noland's blood. He inevitably escapes the island, and makes it home to his native Memphis. Although you do kind of want to know what happens to the character, this portion of the movie is far too long and doesn't really go anywhere. It detracts from the more powerful stuff earlier on. Overall, this is a much better movie than you'd expect, and Hanks puts a bit of effort in for once. 7/10 |
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