It's about DIVORCE

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2001)

A remarkable film, truly inspired and amazingly executed. This is no "teenager" movie! You have to be wise enough to appreciate life, love and loss... in short you must have LIVED to understand it. Most of the viewing crowd (young and old) hasn't the wisdom and will not understand even 10% of this movie, all they can get out of it is the superficial.
If you didn't understand The Green Mile in all of it's deliciously complicated splendor, you will fail to undertstand Cast Away... yes, I mean "Cast Away", not "Castaway". But for those of you who have gone through the pain of IMMEASURABLE LOSS, you WILL understand.
I said it's about divorce, because that is the journey of loss I related to. Some of the more obvious symbology that alludes to this thesis are the divorce certificate in the FedEx box (his job leads to a divorce), the dead pilot's family picture (there is no wife in the photo), the island represents his despair and loneliness at being "cast away" by his wife, but at the same time the island is a sanctuary which allows him to experience and reveal his true "self". Further, the island (lonliness and separation) feeds, protects and cares for him over time so he can grow strong to meet the challenge of the waves (change/journey). Finally, the raft represents the promise of a new life, the volleyball the old self, the paddles represent letting go and accepting God/Fate/reality, and the whale is the confidence that there is a spirit/guide/guardian/angel watching over us (all we have to do is listen).
The movie is beautifully made and has a beautiful message... SURVIVING LOSS. Whether that loss is the loss of a loved one because of divorce or through physical death, this movie is about surviving the greatests depths of despair, and surviving our inner psychological worlds ... not our physical worlds.
Those of you who have, will know what I mean.
John