The Decline and Fall of "Cast Away"

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2001)

"Cast Away" has a brilliant performance from Tom Hanks, solid direction from Robert Zemeckis, and an intriguing plot from writer William Broyles. The film quickly grows out of slow beginning to build to the fantastic island sequence, which leaves the audience hungry for the final climax. Yet "Cast Away" squanders all these advantages and crashes in the last act. Why did a movie with such potential self-destruct? Some points:
1) Turning the film into a two hour FedEx commercial was disgraceful and unnecessary. The family is eating Christmas dinner, and what do they talk about: FedEx! Hanks and a friend are flying in a plane, and what do they talk about: FedEx! Who greets Hanks upon his return to civilization: the president of FedEx! The story would have been much better served with a fictional shipping company, which would have preserved key aspects of Hanks character but not insulted the intelligence of the audience. People paid to see a movie, not a FedEx commercial.
2) The studio ad campaign, which made a super human effort to give away the ending of the film. I don't know who was responsible for the second trailer, but I would advise studios not to hire them.
3) A poor screenplay from Broyles, who came up with a good idea but lacked the talent too properly execute it. Top on the list is the failure of Tom Hanks' character to undergo any kind of change or growth: after suffering through a life altering adventure, he emerges as the exact same man as when he started. He remains optimistic and cheerful, never displaying any anger or bitterness. You would think that a man who was stranded on an island for four years and lost the love of his life would be at least a little upset or depressed. And after spending these four years alone, living in the most primitive conditions, he needs no time to adjust to modern civilization, except that he doesn't like sleeping in his bed. He also feels a need to apologize to everyone he meets for being marooned the island, something akin to apologizing for being hit by a drunk driver. And the final scene with Helen Hunt looks more like it was written for a romantic comedy; in fact, that argument could be made for the entire final act, which is filled with site gags.
4) Casting Helen Hunt. What a waste of talent. She receives no billing (justifiably, see this is Tom Hanks' movie from beginning to end) and has a relatively small role. Better for Hunt to devote her considerable abilities to a worthier project, and for Zemeckis to cast a less well known, up and coming actress that might surprise the audience.
"Cast Away" is a movie in three parts: a decent (but slow moving) opener, a fantastic middle, and a disastrous end. It's a movie that could have (and should have) been better. On a scale of 1-10, with 5 being average and 10 being a masterpiece, I am forced to give "Cast Away" a 5, making "Cast Away" a discount theater or rental movie.