A masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2014)

Entertaining, moving and powerful. A masterpiece of cinema. Few actors could carry a movie solo, as Tom Hanks essentially does here. We feel as if we are right there on the island with him, feeling the initial panic, the frustrations of getting food and making fire, counting the days, battling the loneliness, struggling to keep it together. And the emergency dental procedure, ow!
The length and pacing of the movie suits the subject matter brilliantly. Time passes slowly when you're marooned. So many movies rush their ending, leaving the climax right to the end, but this one does not, with over 30 minutes of it occurring after the rescue. The denouement deals with Chuck trying to find his place in society again, and the resolution of his relationship with Kelly.