See It More Than Once and You'll GET IT.

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2002)

I saw Cast Away in wide release two years ago and it was a strong experience then primarily for Hank's marathon performance and the interpersonal chemistry between Helen Hunt and Hanks. But in my second viewing the film's deeper mythic level hit me. Few films go so deeply or for so long into one man's psychic solitude and what he must construct for himself psychologically when isolation and deprivation is imposed upon him. The fall from grace and all that comes after it, the watch, the wings, the burial, Wilsons arrival and departure, the rope back to the raft, the final visit with Kelly. Zemeckis obviously went to the wall for this film. It's not standard Hollywood fare, it takes all the time it needs, which accounts for the slams posted here by those seeking more spectacular mindless fare. No music, just the sounds of the environment. Hanks ain't gussied up either. Well shot, well scripted, well directed, and the elements rage. Hanks is even more brilliant in the final scenes of the movie than he is when left to the mercy of Planet Earth.
Cast Away would be unique opportunity for any great actor, and Hanks sinks his teeth into this. Sorry Gump fans. Forrest Gump doesn't hold up as well to repeated viewings. Hank's Gump character work starts feeling forced in a few scenes. His Chuck Noland in Cast Away is perfect and natural and shows him once again at the top of his game. 2000 Oscar goes to Hanks, not to Russel Crowe - my vote.
9 out of 10