Castaway

reviewed by Mark Pimentel

The greatest films are not about computer-generated special effects, high-paid actors, or exotic alien locales; they're about portraying human dynamics at its very core. They're about being exposed to wonderful concepts, believable characters, and realities so hard and so strong that true emotions of joy and hope and sadness will come pouring out. These genuine human aspects are what make Cast Away such a great experience to partake. The film manages to portrays the very essence of the human spirit in a way that's truly heartfelt and unique. Though it doesn't have a large-scale battle or a three-hour long duration, make no mistake about it, this is an epic in the purest sense.

Tom Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a workaholic FedEx efficiency expert. He travels all around the world helping FedEx offices everywhere become more productive, and though he's constantly strapped for time, he generally likes his job. What's second on his list is probably Kelly, his grad-student girlfriend back home in Tennessee, played by Helen Hunt, whom he plans to propose to during the holidays. He manages to spend Christmas Day with her but is called into work the day after. Before leaving, the two exchange presents on the airport runway. Pressed for time, he gives her the ring and tells her, "I'll be right back". But like many simple promises, his words come back to bite him as his plane crashes in the middle of the Pacific. Noland soon finds himself stranded alone on a remote desert island as the only survivor of the crash. His chances of survival become slim, but thanks to some objects that get washed up on shore (it was a FedEx cargo plane after all) and his refusal to let Kelly and the rest of civilization go, he manages to stay alive. For four years, we follow Noland through the daily life of living in a hostile and existentialist world while witnessing his transformation from an everyday guy to an almost insane shell of a man. Faced with the prospect of living his whole life on that island and never seeing his fiancŽe again, he soon builds a raft and engages on a journey through the uncaring oceans in a course head for home.

This is Hanks' film, and that's such a great thing because Hanks really shines in his performance, one that could very well be the best of his career. His transformation from a beleaguered efficiency expert to a modern day Robinson Crusoe is incredible not only in terms of physicalities (filming took a year off just so Hanks could slim down for the transition role ), but also in terms of acting, as he really depicts a very believable and realistic island castaway. For example, his interactions with Wilson, a volleyball that Noland paints a face on and talks to in an attempt for companionship, is brilliantly done. Though it's an inanimate object that doesn't talk back or respond in any way, Hanks' conversations with it are heartfelt and genuine, and we really believe that Wilson is a real entity for Tom's character. Aside from Wilson however, there isn't much dialogue to the movie. Though it may sound boring to have a guy walk around an island all by himself for a good half of the film, Hanks does a great job in answering the challenge and making the movie entertaining, communicating not only through Wilson, but also through facial expressions and body language. Frankly, if you admire a good performance, Tom Hanks' in Cast Away is one of the best and worth the admission price alone.

Tom Hanks' wonderful performance creates a very nice reflection of reality with a central character that is not only believable, but also well-liked. His moments of triumph do not become just his, but also ours, as well as humanity's. When he first builds a fire, for example, he goes crazy with happiness and shows a very primal side of himself that all humans possess, so in a way, the movie is also about a man going back into the very quintessence of humanity. As the movie goes on, it's hard to not question yourself on certain situations; "What would I do if I were stranded alone on a desert island?", "Could I bare the loneliness?", "Could I even survive?".

The only flaw in the film lies in the disjointedness of the plot. There are parts that don't quite connect. A good example of this is the opening of the film, a very strange sequence very far away from the main characters that doesn't gain significance until much, much later, when you've nearly forgotten it. The ending is also not as satisfying as it could have been, but in truth, it's hard to think of a better way to end the movie. Though the interlocking of the sequences are generally tight and thus assuring that minds won't be wandering while the film is actually playing onscreen, if you're one of those people quick to over-analyze a film's plot, a few loose connections could really sour your aftertaste of the film.

Helen Hunt is the only other supporting character to really speak off, and though her limited screen time at first makes her character seem weak, her acting at the end is superb and very believable.

In an island where there isn't much to do or many places to visit, "Cast Away" manages to create an experience that is more profound than perhaps anything else from this year. Like the other film in which Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis collaborated on, "Forrest Gump", "Cast Away" has a general shift away from theatricality, action-packed fight sequences, and things of that nature, and is instead centered on the basics -- strong acting, grabbing the audience, heartfelt triumph -- that still manages to top many of the overblown Hollywood productions. Though its genre has been written in the books as "drama", this is a movie that'll appeal to anyone who's ever felt human.

Rated: PG-13 for gore (as well as glimpses of a dead body), scattered profanity, plane-crash violence, brief crude humor.
Running time: 122 minutes.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt.

Official Website: www.castawaymovie.com