It's
been just under six months since film maker Robert Zemeckis graced us with What
Lies Beneath, a horrible little ode to Alfred Hitchcock that made me, if I remember
correctly, jump one time. I didn't find the film scary, and didn't find it terribly
interesting either, but it did offer some decent production values. I was quite
excited to here that Zemeckis would once again team up with the always dependable
Tom Hanks (they worked together on Forrest Gump) for a survival picture called
Cast Away.
Cast
Away stars Hanks as a workaholic employee for Federal Express, who learns a crash
course lesson in the meaning of survival when his plane goes down somewhere in
the Pacific ocean. Washed ashore a tiny island in the middle of nowhere, Hanks
is forced to improvise in order to keep himself alive.
First
off, Cast Away is quite ambitious. There are long stretches in this film that
unfold with no dialogue or musical score. It's just Hanks and the sounds of nature.
Truth be told, I don't believe many actors could have pulled off this role the
way Hanks does. He turns in such incredible performances on a regular basis, that
we've just come to expect the best from him. As a result, we often forget what
a truly versatile actor he is, and with Cast Away he gives not only an emotional
transformation but a physical one as well (something he did even better in Philadelphia).
In fact, as we meet Hanks' character, he's sort of an overweight guy. But about
an hour into the picture, he's this thin, frail man who looks as if he's been
beaten down by life. Hanks actually took a year off of filming to lose the weight,
and the end result is quite staggering.
As
you've probably seen in trailers and other reviews, the media has given away a
lot of plot elements that develop in Cast Away, something that I refuse to do.
I will say this. The bread that sandwiches the meat of Cast Away's plot does not
reach the emotional impact it strives for. It actually feels quite intrusive and
overly melodramatic. As great as the middle portion of the film is, I felt rather
cheated by the fact that we see Hanks struggle for a while, and then we get the
old "4 years later" bit. As a result, I never really felt the sense
that Hanks was on the island that long. Many will argue that Zemeckis does this
for contrast. We need to see how far Hanks has come emotionally and physically.
Still, I felt there were moments of the film left uncharted. I also never felt
that Hanks was ever able to build a real rapport with love interest Helen Hunt.
He actually has a better relationship with Wilson (a volleyball that becomes his
soul mate on the island).
I
would say that with Cast Away, Zemeckis has rebounded from his last picture. The
plane wreck is a true thriller, and much of the island sequences are quietly restrained,
bringing much needed realism. No shark attacks, no running from cannibalistic
tribes, and no erupting volcanoes. Zemeckis try to keep the film grounded in reality,
and with the considerable talent of Hanks, he manages to do so.
In
the end, I really think Cast Away tries to say too much. It's not just about survival
on an island. It's about survival in our daily lives. It tries to tell us that
things can always be worse, and that we should start each day anew. Unfortunately,
this is a picture that fails in it's resolve because of blatant heavy handedness.
Rather than letting the audience determine where a man's journey might take him,
Zemeckis shows too much. This gives the film an awkward Forrest Gump type vibe,
suggesting that we're all like a feather on a breeze, and we need to go where
the wind takes us .
Still,
Cast Away is another bravo performance for Hanks. It's also a step up for Zemeckis
who's made quite the name for himself with gems like Back to the Future, Who Framed
Roger Rabbit, and Forrest Gump. Even though Cast Away isn't in the same league,
it's hardly a dud.
