Damned Good !

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2000)

Well, after seeing his latest film, I feel that I can forgive Robert Zemeckis for his lame-ass Summer film (and inexplicably, a HIT) that aped Hitchcock in the worst way(s) "What Lies Beneath".
That film was made while production was shut down on "Cast Away", so that star Tom Hanks could recuperate.
Its about time that Hanks was declared the modern day Gary Cooper, and/or James Stewart, as he is just so memorable in everything that he does, and nobody plays the "common man" as well as he does.
The trick is, all his "common man" characters are so wonderfully complicated and fascinating to watch.
Despite that, Hanks always brings something different to each role, and, in "Cast Away" as the taskmaster "Fed Ex" dude "Chuck Noland", he invests the character with strength, pathos, and, early on, a bit of surly attitude (he seems a bit nasty barking out orders to the confused Russian "Fed Exers" at the start), but ultimatley, "Noland" is a man that we care about, and we want to see him LIVE and return to his beloved, played by an unusually restrained Helen Hunt.
I enjoyed the bejeebers out of "Cast Away", and I recommend that you rush out and see this right after you get done digesting your thirtieth dry turkey sandwich (its a Christmas release, natch), and I guarantee that the tryptophonic effects of the bird will have no effect on you as you watch Hanks offer up an acting tour-de-force.
Note to Robert Zemeckis: all is forgiven for "What Lies Beneath" :-)