Dramatic moments beyond my wildest expectations

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2001)

Most of us, I think, knew the general outline of the plot before reaching the theatre. However, the plane crash early in the film was drama beyond my wildest expectations. This incident from the initial warnings to the actual plunge into the Pacific was one of my most horrifying cinematic experiences. I literally went down with that plane. The "Robinson Crusoe"-like scenes which followed were interesting to a point although I thought Chuck (Tom Hanks) was rather slow in discovering a method of catching water from the torrential rains. While it was necessary for the scriptwriter to introduce dialogue, I found some of the conversations between Chuck and the face on the ball rather silly and even a bit embarrassing, but I came to accept them in the knowledge that Chuck was on the point of madness anyway after years of isolation. A great piece of cinema followed when the ocean liner sped past an almost dying man face down on his broken raft. I was so anxious... Would the officers on the bridge see him or not? The final homecoming was so touching, so moving and with such unexpected consequences. Yes.. this is the story of a man who through 4 years of loneliness holds a dream close to his heart. Fate plays strange tricks and when the outcome is analysed no-one is really to blame.