Review of Cast Away (2000) by Stevenf — 10 Jan 2013

Track your parcel, because this is one FedEx package you're going to want on time.

At almost two and a half hours in length, this is no walk in the park, or island for that matter, but Tom Hanks throws himself into this so much its hard to know what the clocking in time is.

In the first ten minutes we start to see a convincing ad for FedEx to use concerning time on delivery, but that is besides the point.

Hanks has one of those styles where we immediately feel sorry for whatever dire situation he finds himself in, his story in Cast Away is no different.

But the film separates itself from anything you will have seen before. almost carried solely by Hanks, we have his character, FedEx systems analyst Chuck Noland, stranded on an unknown island due to a tragic plane crash, with nobody else there, he must fend for himself, and this is where we see Tom Hanks at his very best. Through is performance and Robert Zemeckis direction, we see a story of taking each day at a time if this sort of situation arose, not a 'right heres what Im going to do' type story, that is unrealistic, we see him licking water from a leaf for goodness sake, it brings everything to the table, being alone, emotional withdrawal and lengths we would go to just to stay alive, who ever thought of needing the dentist while on a deserted island.

Hanks delivers a stellar performance, his weight loss as the film progresses is clearly visible, another indication of ability to to place himself in the mind of whoever he is portraying.

This film was of course the birth of the infamous 'wilson ball' friendship which Hanks had with a simple blood stained Wilson ball, this was ahidden message within which was in are darkest and most despaired moments, its simplest things we can turn to, no matter who or what, to realise who we are and what we are capable of.

What was surprising the most was how Hanks convinced us how alone he really was, talking to 'Wilson', fighting with coconuts and attempting to escape, it was all these realistic and yet simplistic gestures which created a thrilling journey and emotional performance from Hanks. It was definitely the quieter moments with no dialogue that really showed the capabilities of of Hanks, so much more than Forrest Gump on a desert island.

FedEx need to maintain a reputation after this film, Hanks, on the other hand, has nothing to prove, see this to believe the brilliance.