Zemeckis and Hanks: a Winning Combination!

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2001)

In Cast Away, director Robert Zemeckis and star Tom Hanks,
triumph again with a movie which tells a compelling tale about the
human condition. Obviously, the story line is radically different
"Forrest Gump", and has not quite the nostalgic "entertainment"
value. In Cast Away Hank plays a man who endures no human
contact for four years, whereas Forrest Gump in his very eventful
life gets the opportunity to interact with a multitude of characters,
many of them famous. However, in both films, as in many others,
Hanks portrays a decent and sensitive man and skillfully gains the
empathy of all but the most cynical audience members. And both
films have bittersweet endings, perhaps "hokey" to some but in my
opinion, endings which nicely underline fundamental truths about
the journey of life and its inherent joys, despite the adversities
encountered along the way.
I thought that just about the right amount of time was devoted to
Chuck's life before and after his stay on the island; enough for us
to get to know him in the "civilized world" and enough to show the
difficulties (and ironically, the acute loneliness) of his return to that
world.
Although I had some reservations about seeing this film,
wondering if I could endure an hour and half of watching one
character with minimal dialogue, overall I was pleasantly
surprised. Although not a "perfect" film (the scene with Helen Hunt
at the end could have been pared down and made a little less
melodramatic), it succeeds in telling a story a lot of directors and
actors would probably be unwilling to risk. Well done!