Another gem from Hanks!

Rating: Null/10 (1 January 2001)

I came out of the theater wondering how Mr. Hanks could have condensed so much emotion and depth into what potentially seemed an empty movie. I think it's his best work since Dragnet. People compare his everyman style to the great Jimmy Stewart, and rightly so. Whenever I saw Hanks working his magic, for example in the charming scenes with the volleyball, you could see the mantle of 'America's Actor' being passed from Stewart to Hanks. I have'nt seen that kind of chemistry between an actor and non-speaking prop since Hanks' previous triumph, Turner and Hooch.
The direction captured the isolation of Hanks and his surroundings, whilst keeping an understated feel. Definitely Zemeckis' best job since Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump. My one gripe being that the most memorable part of the movie was the crash sequence. I had hoped that the director could have matured, and not rely on special effect action sequences to carry his movies. And the dialogue was adequate too. I could'nt decide between this and Boyles Jnr's other standout, Entrapment.
There was support from Hunt and Noth: I thought that their acting on the periphery, provided the necessary distance that enhanced Hanks' realistic portrayal of solitude. The same effect that Tawney Kitaen and Adrian Zmed had on Hanks in Bachelor Party. The 'far-off' co-acting in both films provided the chance for Hanks to shine in his solo star role amongst the driftwood.
The ending, when we find Hanks back in civilization, I felt did'nt keep with the tone and pace of the film. Although we are now used to the heart-warming rousing finales of Hanks' movies, who could forget the close-out of Splash, I would have preferred to have seen Hanks see out the film still on the island, with the volleyball.
In closing I would rate Cast Away quite well against the other 'stranded on an island' movies I have seen. Hanks' project deals with the issues of alienation and survival, whilst not losing sight of the potential of fate that can rescue people from isolation and put them back into a more favorable position. Similar to what $1 million did for Richard Hatch after the Survivor TV series. And not to point all the credit to Hanks, seen in the box-office returns for Cast Away, I do hope that his co-star in Big, Jared Rushton received a few points after showing Hanks the potential for a 'lost in the wilderness' vehicle, after he starred in a not too dissimilar picture, A Cry In The Wilderness.
A 'twerp cinema' rating of four.