Cast Away
© James C. Hess
Superficially, it is. But move beyond the superficial and see this is a certain challenge for me: Instead of criticizing I will now consider films and movies beyond the garden-variety it's-got-a-nice-beat-but-you-can't-dance-to-it schtick usually offered by those in the field of cinematic criticism, thereby setting myself apart from my peers and collegues.
Since this resolution is somewhat of a Herculean notion I should start slow and easy, with a film or movie I can actually talk about without straining much.
Such a film for my maiden effort in this realm is Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks.
There isn't much to Cast Away, which is a good thing. If there was more I am not sure it could succeed. But, yet, I was left wanting more. Go figure.
All eyes are on Hanks for about two-thirds of the film, which is a novel thing for him because although he has established himself previously as a leading man in the class of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, he has done so in a second-banana sort of way. Here he is all leading man, and because he is he takes great risks as actor, which only goes to further validate what he can do.
Because the focus is Hanks the story has to be simple, but strong. It is. I cannot say the same for the opening and closing elements, which bog the story down, albeit temporarily.
The story: Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a time-obessed Federal Express executive. A troubleshooter, to be precise. He goes the world over, arranging for hurried transfers of packages in Moscow, solutions in Asia, and a cure for what ails elsewhere.
A cure for what ails is not for him, however. Although he has a loving fiancee named Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt), his life--and hers, to a point--is ruled by a beeper, ever-present, which keeps him chasing time.
Kelly is attracted to Chuck because she comes from clock-watching folk, and shows her love for him by giving him, for Christmas, her grandfather's railroad watch.
This leads to that. That leads to this, and the main drive of the story is launched: Chuck gains a ride on a FedEx flight traveling over the Pacific. The flight is blown off course just before it crashes.
Chuck survives, and floats on a life raft to a deserted island.
