WOW

Rating: Null/10 (31 December 2000)

When I first heard that Cast Away was about some guy who was stuck on an island for four years, I thought "Yah, that's sounds REAL exciting *sarcastic*" Then, I started to think "Well, Tom hanks is in it, how bad could it be?" So, I went to see it, and I was totally blown away. You know you've seen a great movie when you can't stop thinking about it for weeks after you've left the theater.
I still get tears in my eyes thinking about Chuck's will to survive in Cast Away. I can not even begin to fathom four years on an island - ALONE. I mean, this guy's only companion for four whole years is a volleyball. I think I'd forget how to speak English after that long there, but Chuck never loses his will to survive, and makes do with what he has. His memories of Kelly keep him alive, and like he says afterward, he just kept on breathing, kept on living. SPOILERS ALERT Three particularly striking moments in the movie were when he lost Wilson, when he said that he had lost Kelly when the plane crashed, then he had to lose her all over again when he was saved, and third, when he made fire. HE felt like the greatest man alive, and perhaps he was at the moment, or for the next four years.
Chuck loved his volleyball, it was his buddy, he talked to it, he argued with it, discussed with it, and then mourned over his losing it. Although he seems to lose so much in the movie, he has gained a much deeper understanding of himself and is in better touch with his soul and spirit. He has endured just about as much as anyone can, and lives though it.
The audience obviously finds itself wanting Chuck and Kelly to get back together, and we weep with Chuck when we realize that it cannot happen.
Who else is still wondering what became of the Christmas present (presumably an engagement ring) that Chuck gave to Kelly the last time he saw her, just before he got on the plane?
I think that his time on the island could have been a little more drawn out, and his relationship with Kelly more developed, but all in all, this was one of the most touching films I have ever seen. Forrest Gump is first on that list.
I have so much admiration for Tom Hanks. You not only leave his movies thinking for weeks about the plot, but thinking about his characters, admiring them, dreaming about them, relating to them, loving them. I would so much love to be an actress like that, and I have yet to find a female actor that I can look up to in that way. Acting is what I love to do most, and I will strive to do it in the fashion that Tom Hanks does. If I ever make it to the big screen, even for a second, I pray that it is beside Tom Hanks. THANK YOU TOM HANKS