Review of Cast Away (2000) by Máris T — 19 Jul 2014

A soon-to-be-married man and FedEx executive is thrown into an extremely harsh test, where challenges to the limits of the human being abound, both physical and emotional. Zemeckis's film is full of heart and brilliantly understated, in a sort of impressionistic (and sometimes obtuse) way. Narration or deeper characterization would have gone a long way towards sharpening the impact of the writing and its rather blunt romantic subplot. And it is not everybody's slice of pie. For one thing, Tom Hanks must be someone you like or at least tolerate. Slice-of-life (read: slow-moving) moments must stand in good favour with you as a viewer. Bleak reality and absurdist humor also make 'Cast Away' a bit of an odd mix. Truly, it's a shame that there are so many rough spots to "Cast Away" because overall the movie can--and halfway does actually manage to--transcend the lazy, annoying 'Zemeckis-and-Hanks-being-entertaining-but-artful' money-grabbing shtick that's attached to it. There are priceless moments of intrigue and heart pounding excitement, moments of overwhelming loss and true bewilderment, assuming you're going into the movie completely blind to certain plot points. Tom Hanks's turn as a modern man turned wildling stunned me, too. And, if you don't bother too much with the lack of a narrator proper in the last third, the film wraps up his character's arc in a rather pleasing way.

TL;DR VERSION: 4 out of 5. Highly recommended for the sight of Hanks's emaciated form struggling in the wild, and more importantly, the film's tearful moments, depicting a genuine sense of less, of both real and imaginary companions alike.