Review of Cast Away (2000) by Zachary P — 02 Feb 2014

CAST AWAY is one of those movies that I think I understand a little bit better every time I see it. Which seems odd, considering its straightforward, relatively simple plot - Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) gets stuck on a deserted island for four years before escaping back to civilization. While it's always fascinating to watch the part where he's stuck, and see what he'll do, the fact is there's not much to do on a couple acres of sand and rock.

No, what I always get from CAST AWAY is a deeper appreciation of several things. As an amateur photographer, I know there's a lot more to camera work than point and shoot, and the subject matter here is simple enough that I feel I could have somewhat competently captured it with this film as a guide. The music is either absent or walking that fine line between heart-stirring and manipulative (depending on my mood). The acting is incredible. Very few actors could have carried a movie while mostly silent or conversing with a volleyball. Tom Hanks does it, and well.

This movie is also deeply personal to me. I've been, metaphorically, where Chuck has, separated from the society I used to know, with the love for a woman who's not there being the thing that alternately keeps me sane and drives me crazy. A recent turn in that relationship has brought me to the point where I have remet her, but find out I have moved on. It seems silly to compare my relatively minor troubles to those experienced in this movie, but I really do find in Chuck Noland a familiar face and a similar story. I can never view this movie from a distance, and again, much of this is due to Tom Hanks and his incredible acting.

The final thing CAST AWAY makes me appreciate, though, is just how amazing life really is. After seeing a man stranded on an acre or two of sand, rock, and trees, with nothing but his wits, a tattered life raft, and a few FedEx packages, lights are amazing. I only need push a button for fire. Ice and Dr Pepper are friggin' unbelievable, and I live in a place with food so abundant I can afford to be picky. I am surrounded by people, that I can talk to and care about and love. When this chapter of my life ends, the world is big enough that I can go somewhere else and keep going, or start over.

Which brings me to the reason I appreciate CAST AWAY - you may have noticed that everything so cool about life in that last paragraph began with 'I'. This movie cannot be viewed from a distance. It is constructed so that we are vicariously Chuck Noland, stranded on a desert island without ice or Dr Pepper, using ice skates as axes. When we become the protagonist, when we feel what he feels instead of seeing it, when we root for him so much that we care about his volleyball and experience his frustration, happiness, and loss, that is special. And, oh, is CAST AWAY special.