The most enduring thing you will remember about this film is the fact that it is a two and a half hour advertisement for FedEx and the plane crash. This is a trailer for Tom Hanks' acting abilities and a clear intention to aim to get the team who brought us Forrest Gump another string of Oscars.
Tom plays a FedEx engineer who accompanies parcels around the world and ensures that they get to the alloted destination within the 'company promise'. The love interest is provided by girlfriend Helen Hunt who appears briefly at the beginning and end of the film.
After being placed on an aircraft, at Christmas, Tom settles down for an easy ride and return in time for the New Year. Unfortunately, the plane diverts around a storm in the Pacific and is forced to crash into the sea. I must say at this point that the crash sequence was quite dramatic and without being on an actual crash myself (!!) quite realistic. Tom is the only survivor who makes it to a deserted island where the film really begins. I won't spoil it by going into details of his time on the island suffice to say that he does eventually get off.
This is where, I believe, the film slightly loses the plot. It is quite emotional that his hope for getting off the island is no longer there (I will leave that to you to interpret), and the audience is left wondering if he should have stayed on the island! The ending drags out slightly and doesn't quite finish properly, as seems to be the fashion with many Hollywood films at the moment, and you come away from the cinema thinking that you may have missed something!
Overall a fair film - I have seen better with Tom Hanks in!
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Advantages: brilliant acting, great special effects, tonnes of special features, cheap Disadvantages: feels as if special effects are prioty over acting, storyline wasn't as good
![Cast Away [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/80615837.jpg "Cast Away [DVD] [2001]")
Feb 7th, 2001
very helpful by (50%):
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![Cast Away (2 Disc Set) [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78548822.jpg)
