Cast Away [M]

Chuck Noland is a FedEx systems engineer whose existence is ruled by the clock. But that all changes when he is in a harrowing plane crash that leaves him stranded on a remote island with nothing but salvaged FedEx packages to save him. Now armed with an abundance of time and not much else, Chuck struggles to survive on the island, beginning his own personal journey as he does so. 

Admittedly I’m not a Tom Hanks fan. Don’t get me wrong because I think he’s a brilliant actor, but there is just something about him that I don’t warm to. Having said all this his performance in Cast Away is nothing short of breathtaking: empowering, enduring, dramatic, and even comic at times. Aside from Forrest Gump, which is the other film that he’s most known for, Cast Away is easily one of Hanks’ finest works: a dazzling acting challenge and a beautiful story of strength, courage and hope to boot. It’s brilliant. 

Chuck Noland is a FedEx systems engineer whose existence is ruled by the clock. But that all changes when he is in a harrowing plane crash that leaves him stranded on a remote island with nothing but salvaged FedEx packages to save him. Now armed with an abundance of time and not much else, Chuck struggles to survive on the island, beginning his own personal journey as he does so. 

One of the rare movies where dialogue is not really needed that much, Cast Away is a daring and striking look at the human psyche under pressure. For the better part of the movie we are on the island with Tom Hanks just watching him endure one day at a time. In print it sounds phenomenally dull, but it’s this simplicity, lack of dialogue, lack of action and computer effects, and just raw primal human action that provides the movie with its empowering strength and acting challenges. 

Tom Hanks rises to the challenge and delivers an astoundingly brilliant performance that does not want for anything. His minimal dialogue, aside from when he’s conversing with his only companion on the island, a volleyball named Wilson, makes the character so strong and impossible not to root for. He goes on to convey more empowering drama in silence than he does when he’s whooping over the creation of fire. In a film like this, you can’t hide whether you’re a mediocre or brilliant actor and Tom was absolutely brilliant! 

The cinematography is also something that deserves an accolade as it greatly depicts the island’s resort-like beauty, but also its danger and lethalness. The danger and drama of the movie comes mainly in the form of the elements and, keeping in mind that the crew would have had control over the elements, they still manage to clearly depict the danger of the protagonist’s dilemma. It’s just superb. 

I wish to also give a round of applause to the composer of the film’s soundtrack. There is one empowering and breathtakingly beautiful track that gets repeated during scenes of high emotional drama and it’s this piece that brings the tears to the eyes during those scenes. The soundtrack was beautiful. 

Starring Helen Hunt, Michael Forest, Nick Searcy, Viveka Davis, Leonid Citer, and David Allen Brooks, Cast Away is a truly empowering film filled with drama, romance, isolation, survival, and a little bit of comedy. It’s brilliant.