Except for the island parts, a good film (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2000)

In a nutshell: Hanks' FedEx plane crashes somewhere in the ocean. Everyone dies except him. He wakes up on an island, and survives 4 years by learning to make fire and catch fish/crab. Then he constructs a boat and sails back to civilization.
Sound familiar...perhaps like the preview you've seen on TV? Well, that's about as in-depth as it gets here.
"Cast Away" spends WAY too MUCH time showcasing Hanks' acting talent on the island, and WAY too LITTLE time with the effect that his return has on the people in his life...about 3/4 of the movie involves Hanks' stranded island experience, while ONLY 1/4 involves Cast Away's character development and post-rescue reactions.
It's that 1/4 that Zemeckis is brilliant at! Zemeckis and the people who work with him are incredibly gifted people who can put a movie together like Forrest Gump or Contact...movies that echo with human warmth long after you watch them.
Why is the film FULL of island living, and therefore DEVOID of humanity? I mean, I know the film is about a cast away who lives outside humanity, but why does the movie have to be SO FAR removed from the human element that IS Zemeckis' talent?
Anybody out there who knows what I'm talking about? Most of the comments to this film are enthusiastically, ravingly, jaw-droppingly appreciative. "Ooh, Tom Hanks was so good! " Given this year's vapid selection of quality movies, I guess I'm not surprised.
On the other hand, the one island element that I think is noteworthy is Wilson, the soccer ball.