Year:
2000
Studio:
20th Century Fox/DreamWorks SKG/
ImageMovers
Movie: 4/5
DVD:
3/5
Cast Away is a
well made movie about a man who is stuck on a desert island for four
years. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Nolan, a FedEx executive who shuttles back
and forth between Russia and Memphis. Chuck has a girl friend, Kelly
(Helen Hunt), who I think he's going to propose to. But first he has a
flight to Russia but he'll be back by Christmas. Of course the plane
goes down and Chuck spends four years on the island.
We now have an almost two hours of the movie where Chuck is alone
trying to survive on the island. There's about an hour when he doesn't
even speak since there is no one to talk to. It's a long look at a
person slowly discovering how hard an island life is, not only dealing
with simple survival but the utter loneliness.
Eventually Chuck opens up the various FedEx packages that washed up to
shore with him and he finds Wilson the volleyball. That volleyball
becomes his only friend and most likely saves him from madness. But
after four years even that gets old and when the chance comes to get
off the island Chuck and Wilson takes the chance. Sadly Wilson is lost
in the escape.
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Chuck is
rescued and after four years of living alone it's tough to essentially
come back from the dead. Kelly is married with a kid and the whole
world is different. We end with Chuck realizing that he has to move on
and that he has a whole new life to lead. At least that's what I think
it means.
I liked how when he's back in civilization he sees things from an
island perspective. The remains of a buffer dinner. A candle lighter
when he had to spend probably days making fire. Turning on the lights.
The mini pocket knife on his keychain. Just little reminders of how we
in the real world take things for granted.
It's a well shot movie. Very clear and even the night scenes have a
little surreal quality to them. There is practically no soundtrack.
Especially on the island when Chuck is not talking you can hear the
wind and surf and little things. Robert Zemeckis shoots a good movie.
The DVD commentary is subpar. Mostly the special effects and sound guy
and others talking. Way too much stuff about how sound was done for
this movie. The 2nd disk has about an hour of behind the scenes and
background material. There is also a 50-minute Charlie Rose interview
with Tom Hanks which is quite interesting.
What I liked: great cinematography, great non-verbal acting.
What I didn't like: I'm not too sure exactly what that last ending shot
means.
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