Flawed But Insightful Journey Into Loneliness

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2000)

Cast Away is Tom Hank's latest Oscar-hopeful performance, but rest assured, a nomination will not be garnered. Though the film is at its best when Hanks is in the drudges of loneliness, it fails to convince us of Hank's relationship with co-star Helen Hunt. Though their scenes together are few, it certainly detracts from the mood set throughout the film.
Cast Away begins by showing us Tom Hank's character as a man obsessed with time: he has to be, since he works for Federal Express. After saying goodbye to his wife (Helen Hunt, in a flat, one-note performance), he is in a plane crash that leaves the others dead and himself stranded on an island.
Time apart from loved ones and friends is an essential theme to Cast Away, that is, time should not be wasted - during his ordeal on the island, the pain Hanks feels is not for the loss of food, shelter, or material possessions. His inspiration for survival is the love of his life, Helen Hunt. During his stay on the island, his need for a companion grows to the point where he takes to talking to a volleyball. In fact, the most emotionally stirring scene takes place between he and the volleyball and not the ones with Helen Hunt: when sports equipment makes a greater impression with the audience than a top actress, there's something quite wrong.
Tom Hanks' performance as Chuck Noland may not be Oscar material, but it certainly is well-done, and the long stretches and scenes without much dialogue are enlivened by some funny instances and Robert Zemeckis ironically lush photography of the paradise-like island turned prison for Hanks.. There's also quite a few touches of irony in the film, and also inventiveness that comes in the way of Hank's novel uses of some of the FedEx packages that wash ashore with him.
For all the buzz that's been generated by this Hanks/Zemeckis project, the film lives up to it in the beginning and middle - but the end feels like it was hastily put together - the scenes between Hunt and Hanks feel contrived, the dialogue is flat, and they have zero chemistry. If only the film had ended 20 minutes sooner, the solitude and meaning of the film would have gained fantastic strength and momentum; unfortunately, it's undone by a rather banal ending.