Cast Power is more like it

Rating: 1/10 (22 January 2001)

Contrived, overly pompous, predictable, and uncompelling is the best way to describe this overrated film. If you saw the previews for this film, there was really no need to see the movie. In the previews they showed:
A) Tom Hanks as a Fed Ex delivery guy who's girlfriend is Helen Hunt. B) Tom Hanks getting on a plane. C) The plane crashing. D) Hanks stranded on an island, so long he eventually grows a beard. E) Hanks saying he'd "rather take his chances out there than die here", as he floats away on a raft. F) Hanks making it back home. G) Hunt running out after him in the rain.
There were no surprises! And it's just so unmoving. He gets off the island and inside you're saying to yourself "ok, so what?". The moment after i saw the previews i knew it was gonna suck, but everyone was gonna love it and get all these award nominations just cause it was Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Rob Zemeckis. Notice the commercials pitched it with "Zemeckis and Hanks team up for the first time since Forrest Gump!" I'd heard the initial concept was Tom Hanks' idea too. That doesn't surprise me. The last time Hanks had an idea for a movie it came out as That Thing You Do!. A word of advice for Tom Hanks: Stick to what you're good at. That's ACTING. Leave the writing to the writers. Not that they got a good one at that for this film. The scenes with the ball and where he starts a fire were just so pompous and overly dramatic. God, i can just see them in the developement process for this film: "Hey! let's give him a bad tooth in the beginning, so that way we can have him knock it out with an ice skate later!". How freakin' contrived! The whole time i felt like i was watching a Kevin Costner movie. Self-righteous and absorbed. Basically this was a crap movie that was successful due to star power. Do yourselves a favor and CAST this one AWAY.