Back Rowe Reviews
Real Time Movie Reviews from the Back Row of a Theater

Cast Away (PG-13)

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Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks
December 2000

Tom Hanks, again, proves he’s one of Hollywood’s finest actors. Just like he did for
Philadelphia, Hanks emaciated himself for the island scenes. An enormous amount of screen time is spent on Hanks’ survival lessons, and it’s a tribute to his acting and Zemeckis’ skillful directing that our interest is held for so long. Hanks’ conversations with Wilson get annoying after a while, but the anthropomorphized volleyball is a mental defense mechanism that, in tandem with his hope of being reunited with his sweetheart, Kelly (Helen Hunt), is the only thing that keeps him sane. His reunion with Kelly after his rescue is a study in ambivalence: he still loves her but realizes he must move on, just as she did. Other than the unsatisfactory existential coda, Cast Away is an excellent drama that speaks volumes even when dialogue is scarce.

Rating: 3