323. Cast Away (2000)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Running Time: 143 mins

Cast Away is an American film about a man who finds himself on a deserted island after he survives a plane crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and he must adapt to his new surroundings in order to stay alive, and get back home.

I think that this sort of survivalist genre is very hard for filmmakers to do, to keep it interesting while only focussing on one person, usually with very little dialogue, but when it’s done well, it’s always a great watch.

And I’m delighted to say that in this case, it was done brilliantly. I found this film absolutely engrossing pretty much from start to finish, and I thought that the trauma felt by this stranded man in the story was represented fantastically, making it all the more emotional to watch for me.

Despite the fact that the parts of the film where the man was in civilisation were somewhat much less interesting than the story following him adapting psychologically to life on a desert island, I still thought that the story as a whole was incredibly well told, and what especially impressed me about this was the portrayal of time passing in the story, as it did seem to go on and on and on, very similar to the feelings of the castaway, so I was able to really sympathise.

Overall, this gets an 8.3 from me, because it was interesting, dramatic, emotional and just a story extremely well told.