Grade:  B

Director:  Robert Zemeckis		Released:  December 2000
Writer:  William Broyles Jr.		MPAA Rating:  PG-13
Players:  Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt		Running time:  143 minutes

Ratings System

After seeing Cast Away ... I didn't really have anything to say about it.  It was pretty much exactly what I expected it would be when I walked into the theatre.  Tom Hanks gets stranded on an island, survives, and goes home.

There are some great filmic aspects, like Wilson, his pet volleyball.  And the plane crash must be the most horrific crash I've ever seen on film (Alive comes to mind, though).

One thing that disappoints me in particular is the way the film jumps over big stretches of time.  It jumps over 4 years while he's on the island, and 4 weeks just after he is rescued, without showing any of it.  I feel gypped.  I want to follow the character through all his travails, I want to see the doctors examine him when he returns.  What kind of shape is he really in?  What did he do to pass time on the island?  How did he learn to spear fish from five yards away?  We learn some of those things indirectly, but I really wanted to SEE it all unfold.

Visually, it's a beautiful film.  From the deserted island to the snow-covered streets of Russia, everything looks great.  A good effort by Zemeckis.

Update (4/8/02):
I've seen this movie a couple more times, and the rewatchability quotient is pretty high, so I'm upgrading my original grade of B- to a B.

- crocoPuffs