Row, row, row your boat...Cast Away...I'M THANKFUL FOR W/O

I wasn’t too sure about watching this movie because I had heard that it was pretty boring, but I took the chance anyway and rented it from Netflix. Sitting down with a friend one night, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. Yes, there were times that the movie lagged and it got boring, but it wasn’t unbearable. It actually made you think about your life and what is important to you.


MAIN CHARACTERS
Tom Hanks... Chuck Noland
Helen Hunt... Kelly Frears
Wilson Volleyball... Wilson
Nick Searcy... Stan
Chris North... Jerry Lovett
Lari White... Bettina Peterson
Geoffrey Blake... Maynard Graham
Jenifer Lewis... Becca Twig
David Brooks... Dick Peterson
Semion Suradikov... Nicolai
Peter Von Berg... Yuri
Dmitri S. Boudrine... Lev
Leonid Citer... Fyodor
Anne Bellamy... Anne Larson
Dennis Letts... Dennis Larson


PLOT
Tom Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx Systems Engineer, who travels around the world with a simple plan in mind…to teach employees how to make the deliveries faster and how to overcome problems. He plans everything in his life, professional and personal, by the clock. His job is to make those packages go faster through the system. The manic task-master even makes the crew in Russia work through the snow.

First thing it’s two minutes, then four, then six, then the next thing you know, we’re the U.S. mail... Chuck Noland

But he can seem to find a little time for his girlfriend Kelly Frears. He takes a plane out of Russia and heads back to Memphis to surprise her at the office during the Christmas holidays. But she is once again not happy when they are sitting down to Christmas dinner and Chuck gets a page. They both look through their date books and rearrange their schedules. Kelly makes him promise to be back by New Years’ day. They exchange their Christmas presents in the car will waiting on the tarmac. From Chuck, a small wrapped jewelry box that he says she can open on New Years’, when he returns.

I should’ve never gotten on that plane. I should’ve never gotten out of the car... Chuck Noland

The plane to Malaysia, unfortunately, crashes in the Pacific during a bad thunderstorm. Chuck is the only one that makes it through the disaster without a scrape and winds up watching from the lifeboat, as the plane sinks below the surface. Instead of floating farther out into the ocean, he awakes the next morning on the shore of a desolate island. He immediately checks his watch to see what time it was. What did you expect? Well, for a man that time means everything, he sure has a lot of it now!

Over the next few days, Chuck finds the FedEx packages washing up on the shore, from the sunken plane. During his first days there, he goes about the island yelling and looking around for signs of life. He writes a HELP sign in the sand, but awakes the next morning to discover it had been washed away overnight. So he makes another made of tree logs instead. With nothing else to do, he even sorts the packages as they wash onto the shore. Chuck eventually finds himself a cave when exploring around the island. Knowing that he will eventually have to eat, Chuck decides to try and catch some fish. The man obviously has never fished in his life because his tactics do not even come close to catching him some dinner.

So desperate to be off of the island, Chuck paddles his way out into the ocean when he spots a light and thinks it may be ship. He ends up injuring his leg, exhausting himself with his efforts and getting nowhere. Trying to find something that can help him, Chuck decides to go through the packages to see if there is anything in them that can be useful. Digging through them, he finds videotapes, a birthday card, a volleyball, divorce papers, ice skates, and a dress. He manages to put everything to good use...yes, even the dress and the Fedex cardboard boxes that the things were wrapped in.

Some of Chuck’s antics on the island were quite funny. Like when the new boy scout cannot make himself a fire. He gets very upset and ends up injuring his hand instead. And when he decides that he needs someone to talk to and draws a face (with his own blood) on the volleyball and names him “Wilson”, go figure! Wilson becomes his new best friend.

4 years later
We come to the new and improved Chuck Noland. If that’s what you want to call him. His island living skills have greatly improved, but he now looks like a skinny, hairy beast. You mean to tell me that out of all of those FedEx packages…there were no scissors in any of them?

Chuck has managed to survive by keeping a picture of Kelly around, knowing that he has to get back to her one day. He has made himself a home on the island and forged a relationship with his friend Wilson. He is a great fisherman and counts down the months on a rock near his camp. He has even managed to start making himself a boat made out of logs and some plastic that had washed up on shore. It looks like a piece of a porta-potty to me.

Hey, you want to hear something funny? My dentist’s name is James Spaulding...Chuck Noland talking to Winston

When the wind is right, Chuck sets sail...with Wilson strapped to the helm. But Wilson cannot handle the pressure of being stranded in the middle of the ocean because he falls off of his post and floats away. The dejected Chuck mourns the lost of his companion of four years. With nothing else to do, Chuck sleeps. Only to be awaken by the horn of a boat as it goes past him.

I couldn’t even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had control over nothing... Chuck Noland

So now that Chuck has been through his own physical journey, he must now begin an emotional one that will change his life forever.



AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
Won:
2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Supporting Actress in a Drama... Hunt
2001 Golden Globe – Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture... Hanks

Nominated:
2001 Academy Award – Oscar for Best Actor in Leading Role... Hanks
2001 Academy Award – Oscar for Best Sound
2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Actor in a Drama... Hanks
2001 MTV Movie Award – Best Male Performance... Hanks
2001 MTV Movie Award – Best Kiss... Hanks and Hunt
2001 MTV Movie Award – Best On-Screen Team... Hanks and “Wilson”
2001 MTV Movie Award – Best Action Sequence... plane crash


DVD DETAILS
~ Audio commentary by Robert Zemeckis and his crew
~ Interview with Tom Hanks
~ HBO First Look Documentary
~ “Wilson: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra” feature
~ Special effects feature
~ Behind-the-scenes feature


MY THOUGHTS
Tom Hanks is great as Chuck Noland. I think that he is the only one that could have played this part so convincingly. He is definitely the only one that could have gotten away with talking to and arguing with a volleyball! Boy, someone is creative. Any other actor would have been laughed off the screen, but Hanks make the whole relationship seem real and almost touching. He did not simply play Chuck Noland on screen, he became Chuck Noland...with the long hair, beard, and thin body during the last island scenes.

One thing that I found completely unbelievable about this movie was the fact that Chuck made it through the plane crash without any injuries. As much as he was thrown around, he should have broken something, or gotten a scratch somewhere. And he was the only one that did survive. Lucky man. I was also a little disappointed with the ending. It was kind of thrown in to explain everything and nothing was accomplished at all. But Chuck realizes that he must go on with his life...maybe that was the true meaning. But then again, I don’t think they could have done it any differently without ruining the whole movie. Another thing that I didn’t like about this movie was the minimal amount of screen time given to Helen Hunt. I absolutely love her and would have liked to see her face on the screen more than it appeared in Cast Away.

I really liked this movie and recommend anyone watching it. The scenery on the remote island is not much to look at. It’s just like every other deserted island. But when Hanks is at the top of the island, or looking out onto the ocean...the scenery is breath-taking to behold. And the actual plane crash sequence looked so real and believable. At first I thought that I would be totally bored, but that was not the case. There were a few parts that lagged, such as the beginning and ending, but overall it was an enjoyable movie. You could imagine how boring this plot could be without Hanks as its’ star and I applaud Zemeckis for casting him in this role. Hanks makes you feel everything he is feeling and you even start to feel sorry for him after watching his antics. Hanks makes you care about his character and what happens to him. And he shows that you could possibly be more alone in a group situation than on a deserted island all alone with a volleyball. It’s amazing how some people can adjust so well to the circumstances they find themselves’ in.

You actually can watch this movie and really think. Which is found odd because all of the films that I have watched lately have been no-brainers. I personally believe that those who do not like this movie are only looking at the surface of it and not delving into the real story and what it could mean to each individual person and the lessons that it could teach you. Cast Away really makes you think about life and what really matters. Think about it…would you be able to survive on a deserted island for four years? And just think about all that you have compared to someone on a deserted island. Life is good!

I am thankful to be able to live the life that I do!


Other participants in the I’m Thankful For Write-Off, hosted by remnjava include:

artbyjude
azielinski
d_fienberg
granniemose
kld718
marytara
melissasrn
priyatha

Check out remnjava’s profile page for details and links to the other reviews.


~ Happy Watching!

Kim

Other Recent Hanks Movies:
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2 – Voice of Woody
You’ve Got Mail
Saving Private Ryan

Other Recent Hunt Movies:
What Women Want (http://www.epinions.com/content_73495383684)
Pay It Forward
As Good As It Gets
Twister

Movie Release: December 2000
Movie Type: Drama
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: William Broyles Jr.
Price: Rented ($13.99)
Running Time: 143 minutes
Rating: PG-13