This movie should be cast away.

Rating: 4/10 (9 July 2001)

I was warmly looking forward to this movie since I love the ocean and I generally enjoy Tom Hanks movies (such as Forrest Gump and Sleepless in Seattle). Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in Cast Away.

The movie opened with a variety of global snippets creating a sense of speed and excitement. After a while (and a few borrowed scenes from airplane disaster movies of the 70s), we found Hanks in a predictable marooned situation on a tropical isle doing all of the things we would expect: finding water, food, shelter. The plot drearily and ploddingly followed each step of the way.
The only freshness and creativity was the introduction of the new star, Wilson. I admittedly cried when Dumbo's mother was locked up in the Disney movie, "Dumbo," but I just couldn't get into this "Wilson" thing in Cast Away; I was dry-eyed the whole way through. Call me crass, call me hard-hearted, but I never cried for poor, enigmatic Wilson.
Perhaps my greatest disappointment was the movie virtually ignoring a gut-wrenching issue throughout 95% of the film. Sure, Hanks was lonely on a deserted island, but what about his love interest, Helen Hunt? She faced a very difficult issue: give Chuck Noland (Hanks) up for dead and start a new life or cling to the chance that he might still be alive? Watching a great actress like Hunt grapple with this tough decision fraught with emotional drama and trauma would have been much more interesting than watching Hanks fishing and losing weight. And what is more relevant to most of us - getting cast on a deserted isle or having a loved one disappear - kidnapped, killed, a runaway? The questions facing Hunt were, by far, the most relevant and engaging ones to be touched and indulged by the film.
Alas, it was not to be. Helen Hunt's role was almost a cameo in comparison to Hanks. And for the little time she had, she should be given the Charlie McCarthy award for the wooden delivery of her lines.
Strangely (and sadly), Wilson was the best supporting actor in this movie. I give Cast Away a 4 - only for the upcoming star, Wilson, and for the island and ocean surf which actually were quite lovely.
(By the way, the symbolism of the "crossroads" was lame, too.)