While the hands-down BEST part of this film is the plane-crashing-into-the-ocean portion, I don't want to condemn the whole picture completely. CAST AWAY is a good movie that wants to be a great movie, and fall short, because of the lack of human interaction...for the bulk of the film, that is.
Granted, it's a tremendous challenge for any actor to carry an entire piece by himself, as Tom Hanks does in Cast Away, but that's what really diminishes the film. That, and the fact that the passage of three years happens in the matter of a five second fade...in which Chuck (Hank's character) goes from petrified Fed Ex worker to Robinson Crusoe.
It's three movies in one, actually... beginning when punctuality-obsessed Federal Express systems engineer Chuck Noland departs on Christmas Eve to escort an ill-fated flight of FedEx packages. Following a plane crash, movie number two chronicles Chuck's four-year survival on a remote island, totally alone save for a Wilson volleyball (which Chuck bloodies and names "Wilson") that becomes Chuck's closest "friend." Movie number three leads up to Chuck's rescue and an awkward encounter with his ex-girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt, in a thankless role), for whom Chuck has seemingly risen from the grave.
Robert Zemekis directs the film beautifully, unfotunately I think in order to really tell this story effectively it would have had to be a lot longer...and of course, no one would sit through that.
