A real waste

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2000)

This movie had the potential to be truly great. A great cast, great special effects, and an original plot were all in place. Unfortunatley, the execution and the details were poor and it seemed as if the script was written in a rush without any thought. Tom Hanks' character finds himself on a deserted island after a plane crash. From then on he acts as a man with no brain. Upon finding numerous FedEx packages washed up on shore, he stacks them up and opens them days later, including one that he NEVER opens!!! Upon finding a flashlight, he sets it down, while on, and promptly falls asleep, letting the batteries burn out. Left with a small rubber raft, he takes it out into the obviously huge waves, puctures the raft and his leg in the process. He does manage to produce fire, but is then seen four years later eating raw fish. I guess the fire thing got old, huh? After being on the island FOUR YEARS, he gets the idea to BUILD A BOAT. Only four years to think of that. Intertwined in all this is an ongoing conversation with a freaking VOLLEYBALL. He finally builds the boat and gets out into the open sea. He loses the volleyball and weeps uncontrollably, and then decides to throw away his oars and lay there and give up. (Funny how the volleyball is everything, but those oars don't mean a whole lot.) Miraculously he is found and the movie grinds to an end. By the end I was so frustrated I wished he had died.