**SPOILERS** Well-made but unsatisfying **SPOILERS**

Rating: 5/10 (2 June 2002)

I had high expectations for this movie and really wanted to like it, since it contains many themes that I like in a movie. And it is well-made and cleverly-done.
But after seeing it, I am left unsatisfied. At the end, nobody is happier than they were at the beginning. Chuck's and Kelly's lives were turned upside down--he was in agony and lost four years of his life; she grieved for a long time and gave up her dreams--but for nothing.
By the end, I was searching for a reason for the movie, but instead there was an unclear "open" ending. The Texas character shown at the very start and the very end was written as a woman for some reason, but I don't know why. There's no hint that Chuck goes in her direction, and there was no reason for him to.
I found no message, moral, or lesson to this film. Not every movie has to have a point, but the best ones do. Yes, Chuck triumphed over the island, but if the movie was supposed to be just about that, the beginning and ending wouldn't have been included. And even the victory over being stranded is shallow considering the cost involved.
When it was over, I asked, "Why did you tell me all of this?"