‘Cast Away’ Is Gripping, Dramatic And Absorbing,

But Don’t Watch Its Trailers Or Commercials!

I’m one of the few people I know who didn’t watch even a single episode of the hit summer TV series Survivor. Although I was very aware of the phenomenon that CBS show became, I was distant from some of the self-seeking questions it tended to evoke, such as, “What would I do if I were stranded on a desert isle?” and “Would I be able to cope if I were deprived of my modern conveniences?” Many of these same issues are at the heart of Cast Away, which is currently the nation’s most popular movie and the latest hit from Tom Hanks, who also serves as one of the film’s producers.

As FedEx’s top troubleshooter Chuck Noland, Hanks washes up on the shore of an uncharted island when his plane is knocked off course by a vicious storm and ultimately thrown violently into the South Seas. A key difference between Noland’s predicament and the road traveled by the cast of Survivor — aside from the $1 million prize, of course — is that he is the sole survivor of his plane crash and thus the only denizen on the isle. There is no one to befriend or betray, no allies to win or enemies to make. He is alone. Thus, Noland’s journey becomes one of intense introspection and self-examination, along with the other key questions, noted previously, regarding self-preservation and the like.

Cast Away re-teams Hanks with director Robert Zemeckis, the man who helmed the actor’s Oscar-winning triumph Forrest Gump, and also, among many other films, another of last year’s hits, the thriller What Lies Beneath. I note this because Zemeckis now has the dubious distinction of releasing two films in the same year that are both undercut, artistically and aesthetically, by the very studios seeking to prop them up. Yet, since the movies in question — Cast Away and What Lies Beneath — were released by two different studios, it begs the question: Is Zemeckis himself responsible for the damage that has been done to his films?

Now, you may be wondering why I’m mentioning this and asking yourself, “What damage?” After all, What Lies Beneath grossed over $150 million and Cast Away is already over the $100 million mark, the fastest of any Hanks movie to do so. True, both films have already proved financially successful, but I wonder, are they as effective, cinematically, as they should be? What Lies Beneath had some crucial plot points revealed in its promotional trailers, story twists that don’t emerge until nearly halfway into the film. Likewise, Cast Away has a critical element that is, for some idiotic reason, revealed in its commercials, and no, for those of you who have not seen the commercials or the preview, I will not ruin it for you by telling you what it is. However, I wish someone had done me the same courtesy.

Having been burned by What Lies Beneath, I avoided all commercials and trailers for Cast Away, but even so, the plot was spoiled because a certain newspaper (which shall go unnamed but begins with USA and ends with Today) blurted out the destiny of Hanks’ character, figuring it was okay to discuss since this story element is revealed in the Cast Away promotional material. No! It’s never okay to discuss a movie’s plot twists unless you are sure, absolutely positive, your listeners (or readers) have seen it!

Despite all my above grousing, Cast Away, rated PG-13 for mild language, an intense crash sequence and some disturbing images, won me over as an intriguing, well-made film featuring another fine performance by Hanks (he even does an effective De Niro-like trick of drastically altering his physical appearance, mid-film). It is surprisingly engrossing during its unconventional treatment of Chuck’s estrangement from society: although there is only one character and barely a shred of dialogue, Zemeckis and Hanks make every action and movement grippingly dramatic and absorbing. Just as I felt with What Lies Beneath (a completely different type of film, by the way), Zemeckis is completely successful with what he sets out to accomplish... just don’t watch any of the commercials or let anybody tell you about the plot!