Review of "Cast Away"

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2011)

Robert Zemeckis' "Cast Away" is a movie that is not only a revolutionary piece of film, but it is as poignant and affecting as they come. One of the most interesting and, often, unsung aspects of "Cast Away" is that Zemeckis and his crew basically crafted this movie on the fly and during production. In fact, the whole concept of "Wils...on The Volleyball" was not conceived until about halfway through shooting. Another interesting aspect of the film is that a very large portion of it has no dialogue, yet it still remains highly entertaining experience. Much of the film's complexity comes from the incredibly moving performance as Chuck Noland, a FedEx engineer who is tragically separated from everything he loves. Which leads me to another point, and, possibly, my favorite aspects of "Cast Away" - the themes conveyed. The movie is deeply driven by the central idea that life can be cruel and unforgiving thing, but that shouldn't stop us from pursuing something better. This theme is accentuated to an enormous degree by the movies soundtrack by Alan Silvestri. Though the soundtrack is absent throughout most of the first half of this movie, the movie's main theme is slowly introduced towards the end of the film. It's a very solemn musical piece that effectively illustrates the pain the Chuck Noland experiences throughout the movie, but it also presents a sort of hopeful tone to the film. In the end, I feel that "Cast Away" presents a number of innovative and impressive techniques that, ultimately, make it a perfect film.