How many endings does one movie need?

Rating: 5/10 (27 December 2000)

Zemeckis and Broyles deserve credit for a truly original version of a tired concept: Robinson Crusoe, Gilligan's Island, Survivor, etc. The middle (greater) part of the film, set on the island, is extremely watchable, never boring, and often moving. Tom Hanks is so acceptable to all of us as a sort of "everyman," one can't help but fully identify with this character in these circumstances. (Also, I have to mention the plane crash is the most unsettling and, I assume, realistic I've ever seen.)
The one problem with the movie, and I think it actually fatally mars the whole thing, is the ridiculous ending(s) meant to spin some sort of sentimental closure. I counted 5 possible endings, and the thing kept going for 15 more minutes. I think the studio was probably afraid of ending on an uncertain note, so they just kept adding on until they reached the level of maudlin sentimentality they felt appropriate. In actuality, uncertainty would have perfectly matched the tone of Hanks' character at that point in the film.