Tom Hanks does it again! In his new hit movie “Cast Away”, viewers are set adrift to a deserted Island, left to survive the rough elements of nature, and the lonely silence of solitude.
In the movie, Hanks is a Fed Ex executive named Chuck Noland. Chuck is dating Kelly Frears, played by Helen Hunt. The couple’s goodbye, which is thought to be for only a few days, turns into a four year separation that forces Chuck to transform him both physically and emotionally for survival purposes. Off screen, this forced Hanks to both gain and lose over 40 pounds.
This movie was not only extremely suspenseful, with amazing special effects and powerful camera work, but it also adds humor to lighten up the overall melancholy plot. “Cast Away” also uses small amounts of dialogue for long periods of time, and lets that sound of the waves do the talking.
Director Robert Zemekis forces viewers to feel all sorts of emotions throughout the movie. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. When Hanks befriends a washed up Fed Ex package, which happens to be a volleyball, the audience laughed out loud. However, I saw this as a total act of desperation, due to a man’s extreme loneliness.
At the end of the movie, I felt that it had really been a success. I definitely thought that Tom Hanks’ work was worthy of an Oscar nomination. When I left the theatre, I looked at the everyday tasks that I perform in a new light. There is so much in this world that we take for granted, even something as minute as lighting a match.