Predictable With No Real Insight

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2001)

Now, the predictable part didn't bother me much, because I was expecting the movie to delve into the psyche of the main character and reveal something profound about humanity. Instead the film is extrmeley shallow. Here is the question the movie poses: What would it be like to be stranded on an island? Now, the average person has certain preconceptions when thinking about this question. The job of the movie is to provide depth and material which forces the viewer to reconsider these preconceptions. No such material exists in the film. It has the intellectual blandness that is typical of popcorn movies, but with most of the action removed. As a result, the movie failed to hold my interest. Besides this basic failing, there are also some minor nitpicks.
The film took the more marketable and typical gender designations with the male being lost on an adventure, and the woman at home. This formula has been around since The Odyssey and I would have liked to see Helen Hunt and Tom Hanks reverse their roles. But, seeing a woman on screen without make-up and perfect hair? A woman who can survive alone? We can't have that now.... In addition, no one spears fish standing twenty feet away from the target. It just isn't done. Tom Hanks also was remarkably chubby and healthy looking during the first few days on the island.
After returning from the island, the movie cheats us by magically producing a Tom Hanks who has managed to reintegrate himself into society in a mere four days. Sure, he's a little reserved, but after four years alone his behaviorisms would take a wee bit longer to disappear. The scenes with Helen Hunt manage to be painfully melodramatic which is quite an achievement considering that the situation would seem to allow for melodrama. Finally, I predicted the appearance of the beautiful woman in the final scene about a minute before she showed up which was depressing. It suggests that all a lost man needs to provide him with some direction in his life is some other pretty girl in too much make-up. So, all in all some nice scenery but not enough to make up for the films inability to inspire thought in the viewer.