Cast Away
20th Century Fox, 2000
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

$$$1/2

For FedEx manager Chuck Noland, played by Tom Hanks, time is everything. It's the unforgiving taskmaster that enforces order in his life, and adhering to that order, making sure packages get where they have to be when they have to be there, gives Chuck a sense of control -- a false sense, it turns out. It's not until his FedEx plane goes down in the middle of the Pacific, stranding him alone on a deserted island, that Chuck is forced to confront the difficult truth that we all are merely at the mercy of the ebb and flow of fate.

This involving examination of how a modern man, stripped of his pager and cell phone, might react if left to survive on his own in the wild comprises the premise of Cast Away. At first, Chuck is slow to shed the life he knows. He dutifully sorts the FedEx packages that wash up on the beach with him, and we get the feeling he's still hell bent on making sure those parcels reach their final destination. Early on, drinking juice from a coconut is still a pretty exotic experience for our hero. But before long, he's spearing crabs, making fire by rubbing sticks together and having deep, intimate conversations with a volleyball. Don't laugh, Chuck's relationship with his sporting good pal (nicknamed "Wilson" after its manufacturer) is actually one of the most moving aspects of the film. No matter who you are, or where you are, people need somebody to talk to, even if that somebody is a round, inanimate piece of leather.

Being alone on screen for nearly an entire film would be an immense challenge for any actor, but Hanks proves he's more than up to the task. The actor also deserves extra kudos for his dedication. Production on the movie halted for a year while Hanks shed 55 pounds and grew a long beard for the movie's second half which takes place four years after he was originally stranded. Guys with two Academy Awards who make $25 million a picture don't have to do that sort of thing. Helen Hunt is also very good as the girlfriend Chuck leaves behind.

Director Robert Zemeckis (teaming with Hanks for the first time since Forrest Gump) does an excellent job of telling the story from Chuck's point of view. The harrowing plane crash sequence that ends the movie's first act begins so suddenly, Chuck doesn't know what hit him -- and neither do we. The rest of the movie essentially maintains that lock-step bond with Chuck; while never supplanting the character, the camera almost always sees things just as Chuck does -- we're glued to his hip for his desert island odyssey.

As bleak as Cast Away can be in its darker moments, the film does leave us with an uplifting message -- it's the philosophy that ultimately motivates Chuck to survive: One tide of fate may land you on a deserted island, but the next tide might just deliver you home.

(c) Copyright 2000