Thoughtful, brilliant, and original film--a must-see

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2000)

I saw the Austin premiere of Cast Away yesterday, and have been haunted by it since. It is a profoundly moving film about one ordinary man's struggle for survival, not just of the body but of the heart and mind, at the hands of an indifferent Fate. It is alternately funny, unnerving, gruesome, beautiful, and poignant, and at all times believable. I cannot recall another picture from a major studio this spare in terms of script and style--it is a daring and refreshing movie. Tom Hanks as Chuck makes the story compelling, carrying more than an hour of the picture by himself with little dialogue and no soundtrack besides wind, waves, and rain. The film can be enjoyed purely for the entertainment value of watching Chuck become lost and find his back to civilisation (no spoilers here, folks), or it can be explored for many layers of meaning: about relationships, about destiny, about ingenuity, about inspiration, and about our basic humanity. The movie is not heavy-handed with its message; you take from it what you put into it, and the audience is expected to work at it a bit. Even the title is multi-faceted . . . but don't be daunted. See this movie; see it many times, as I plan to do.