It is rare indeed when a movie comes out on the big screen that I am tempted to leave the house to go and see it. With some 240 channels on digital cable, I really don't see the need to watch a movie until it is available on one of the many premium movie channels.

But several trusted epinion friends had such positive remarks about Cast Away, that I felt compelled to check this one out myself.

Tom Hanks plays the role of Chuck Noland, a Federal Express employee that serves as an international trouble shooter. Chuck is your typical fast-paced, workaholic who is bound by the race of the clock and his drive to make Federal Express number one in the international market.

Chuck lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his girlfriend, Kelly (played by Helen Hunt). Home for the holidays, Chuck is called out an emergency in Malaysia. Before Chuck leaves his girlfriend Kelly, he gives her what is assumed to be an engagement ring. Chuck asks her not to open or respond to the tiny package until his return on New Year's Eve.

Of course, Chuck doesn't return to Memphis as planned. The plane he is on crashes into the Pacific Ocean. By some miracle, Chuck survives the crash, unlike his fellow Fed Ex co-workers. He is carried away from the crash site by a small rubber raft, which, by the way, has some incredible special effects scenes. His raft eventually ends up on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific.

With the loss of daily conveniences, Chuck is forced to begin a life that consists of day to day survival. His experiences are truly trial by error, and as one would expect of a "big city" person, he struggles with even the most simple of tasks, such as splitting open a coconut, catching a fish or starting a bonfire.

Several FedEx packages that were lost at sea in the crash, wash ashore and Chuck collects them. Initially, he dutifully keeps the packages for what he must believe will be his eventual rescue. But, he finally succumbs and opens all but one of the packages, finding practical uses for even the most unusual.

Chuck remains on the island for four years. Now a seasoned survivor, Chuck decides to make a raft and leave the island. After being out at sea for several days, a severe storm all but destroys the raft. Soon thereafter, Chuck is rescued.

He returns home to Memphis to find his girlfriend is now married and has a child, and the life that he once knew is not at all as it was. He finds himself faced once again with survival. Only this time, it is not the survival of one being alone on a deserted island, but of one trying to find where he "fits" in a world that now seems strange and alien.

Tom Hanks is simply superb in this movie. He had to have been on some crash diet during filming, because in the beginning of the movie, he is a bit on the overweight side, but after being stranded on an island for four years, he is slim and in excellent physical shape. In order to make this physical transformation, the movie was actually postponed for a year after being half away completed. This gave Tom a chance to develop a muscular and lean physique.

I've never been a fan of Helen Hunt, but she certainly played the role of Kelly quite well. The viewer can't help but feel for this woman who had all but given up on ever seeing the man she loved again, only to have him reappear four years later. That has certainly got to be a real shocker.

Tom Hanks actually came up with the idea for the movie Cast Away, and worked directly with the writer of the script, William Broyles. Broyles and Hanks wanted to make this movie as realistic as possible, so Broyles went to stay on a deserted island by himself to experience it firsthand before writing the script.

The actual footage of the deserted island is not in a Hollywood studio, as one would suspect, but on a real uninhabited island somewhere near the Fiji Islands. The decision to film on a remote island was without a doubt, an excellent one, as I believe it gives this movie a realistic feel.

Cast Away is 2 hours and 23 minutes in length and has a PG-13 rating. Due to some of the content, I would not recommend this movie to younger viewing audiences.

I highly recommend Cast Away to epinion movie goers. It is well worth the big screen investment.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you at the movies!

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older