Much was made at the time of 'Cast Away's theatrical release about the pioneering use of CGI effects to convince us that Hanks really is stranded on an island thousands of miles from civilization with nothing visible on the horizon. It is hard to recall a performance as transformative. Pounds to make Noland's transformation believable, earning his Oscar nomination by matching Zemeckis's passion for exploring not just the physical but the emotional, intellectual and spiritual consequences of alienation.

This second act is actually split into two halves, shot nearly a year apart Hanks underwent a rigorous physical routine to gain and then lose the necessary Wilson' (after the sporting good company). The film's secondĪct is a huge risk for both Hanks and Zemeckis as we follow Noland as he adjusts to his new life of solitude, where time doesn't matter, where there is no communication, and where his only friend is imaginary - a rotting volleyball, which he names 'Mr. 'Cast Away' is a movie of contrasts - between civilization and isolation, sound and silence, modern technology and antiquated technique. After a spectacular plane crash sequence (which easily ranks as one of the scariest and most visceral in screen history), Chuck is left alone on a deserted island, with what would appear to be absolutely no hope for rescue. But Chuck's managed life is about to come to an abrupt halt. If he can manage it - even 'quality time' with his lovely fiancee Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt) is something to be scheduled. He runs his employees like racehorses, and seems to value time only Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer who lives a ruled-by-the-clock existence. It is a film that understands how time - and our perception of it - informs every single choice we make. For most of its meditative 143-minute runtime (nearly 100 minutes of which occur virtually without dialogue), 'Cast Away' is absolutely riveting. Who wants to watch a man alone on a deserted island (even if he is Tom Hanks) for two-and-a-half hours? Yet as directed by Robert Zemeckis, 'Cast Away' is a movie that is at its most compelling when it accepts this challenge and runs with it.

Isolation may just be the most unlikely of subjects to power a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster.

Cast away movie review