Cast Away

FedEx fixer Chuck Noland (Hanks) lives by the clock and expects the world, including girlfriend Kelly (Hunt), to keep up with him. However, after miraculously surviving an air crash on one of his trips abroad, he suddenly has days, weeks, maybe a lifetime to fill. That might not be so long after all, as staying alive on an uninhabited rocky outcrop somewhere in the Pacific is not easy. Though Hanks comes across as blandly as ever, at least his solid performance shows he's up to carrying half a movie on his own, and Zemeckis' direction is at first as busily efficient as the protagonist. Indeed, the crash is very well staged. The problem is, everyone involved takes it all so seriously as a significant statement about Modern Man, which is why it takes an eternity to end. If I understand this symbol-heavy fable correctly, civilisation hasn't done much for our souls, but if we can only get back to what matters, like worshipping a volleyball as a fire god, maybe we'll see the light.