Two-thirds of a good movie (major spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (13 April 2002)

In my opinion, it's Tom Hanks' performance that makes the film work, at least up until the third act. When we first see him, he is a modern, civilized man. He is concerned with doing his job smoothly and on time. He romances the woman he loves. In other words, he is much like any normal person.
However, that one fateful night changes his life forever. A storm downs his plane in the ocean. The only survivor of the disaster, he must learn to adapt to solitary life on a small island. Tom Hanks does an excellent job in making the transition believable. Before seeing it, I was worried about how the scenes with "Wilson" the volleyball would turn out. However, I now realize that given the circumstances, it was about all that he could do to prevent his own insanity. (It's not like he had to worry about how others would perceive him)
With this in mind, the first two acts are often effective. However, just when I was getting into it, "Cast Away" takes a wrong turn and descends into predictable melodrama. Helen Hunt does a decent acting job, but alas, most of her scenes should have been written out of the script. In fact, it would've been better to end the film with a long shot of Chuck adrift on his raft, which would've lent it an air of ambiguity.
**1/2 (out of ****)
Released by Dreamworks Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox