Hey folks, Harry here with two more folks chiming in over one of this holiday seasons most anticipated releases... CASTAWAY... We've all heard about Hanks' physical transformation... How great the script for this baby is.... and we know that Zemeckis and Hanks can deliver the goods... but, do they? From the below... it sounds like they have... A little tweaking of the ending seems to be possibly in order... we'll see. There's a month and a half left... Zemeckis is known for magic... let's see if he pulls this one off, I'm rooting for him...
I attended a screening tonight of Cast Away here in this hole we call LA in a remote theater near Thousand Oaks. Which, for those of you that don't know and don't care-is a very green extended part of "the valley" where all the yuppies live. In any case, I was very excited about this screening and had high hopes for Cast Away. I am HUGE Zemeckis fan and have loved pretty much everything he has ever done. Expecially Contact and Back to the Future which I consider to be cinema at it's best.
Zemeckis did not let me down.....this movie is almost perfect!
This year has been, in my opinion, awful as far as good movies go....there have been very little great films this year, Cast Away is just that, a great film, an excellent film, an....amazing film!
I loved it.
So basically, without spoiling anything, here's the lowdown.
Tom Hanks is Chuck Noland, a dedicated FED EX employee who travels around thw world for his job. He lives by the clock, and dies by the clock. Time is a huge metaphor in this movie.
Things go bad when Chuck has to leave for a job on Christmas Eve, he has to part with his girlfriend who he loves dearly, played by Helen Hunt with perfect subtetly.
Chuck is on the plane, it begins to go down.....here begins one of the most intense plane crashes I have ever seen put on film.
Most of it is seen from Hanks perspective, which adds to the intensity. The sound, the visuals, everything is fairly unique and puts you right there in the middle of the crash.
Soon, Chuck is stranded on a remote island...very alone.
Zemeckis does a great job here by putting you in the position of Hanks character. This whole movie makes you think, what would I do? And you watch believing every minute of it, because you know you would be doing the same thing Chuck does. Packages from the FED EX crash begin to wash up and they each hold an item that helps Chuck along the way including a volleyball that becomes his best friend.
I have to say that I nominate this volleyball for best supporting actor.
He gives a better performance than Nick Cage in Gone in Sixty Seconds and he holds more charisma than Sylvester Stallone in the repugnant Get Carter.
I don't want to ruin this movie for you, it is simply amazing.
Zemeckis does the right thing by choosing to use NO music during Hanks time on the island.
You feel as if Chuck feels, alone, with just the sounds of the ocean and birds chirping to keep company. The movie contains very little dialogue and rightfully so...Hanks facial expressions tell the whole story. He has crafted such a believable character in Chuck Noland, and you really do like the guy. He is the perfect actor for the role....someone else would not have fit. Costner, Spacey, any male actor of the time could do it, but not do it as perfect as Tom.
The photography is ofcourse beautiful. And Zemeckis manages to squeeze in a few creative shots-like a camera going from underwater up to a raft and then craning high above for an over head.
As you travel along with Chuck Noland, you want to see him succeed so badly. You grow attached to him. I miss him already. I didn't want this film to end.
Zemeckis is a genius. When you see this movie, you will agree.
I predict Oscar attention.....mark my words here.
Zemeckis was at the screening and he appeared very happy. The audience loved it.
Hope this review is posted, be cool y'all!
-Goose-in Hollywood
Hey folks, after the above rave, I'm sure you want something a bit more... restrained... Well Spoondocket, gives a brief but even review of the film (which is still a work in progress) He likes the film.. and feels it will only get better as it finishes up over the next month and a half... Here ya go...
I saw a screening of the new Tom Hanks film Cast Away on Tuesday night.
The hype for this movie may be high come December, but I'm not sure it can live up to it. The print I saw had no music track until the very end and some rough special effects, so I can't judge too harshly.
You know the basic story: fed-ex guy on desert island. this brief synopsis pretty much sums up the film.
STRENGTHS: Well Tom Hanks was excellent as usual. His first few days on the island are great as he tries to find out how he will survive. You hear about how he lost those forty pounds for the second half of the film and it shows. Quite a transfrmation. Plus it is pretty cool to see the worlds most famous actor lose his mind and start yelling at a vollyball. The vollyball by the way was one of the films best characters and the source of many laughs. The plane crash was definitely one of the most realistic I have ever seen and anyone who has a fear of flying should go to the bathroom during that scene.
WEAKNESSES: Helen Hunt does not have a large role, but at the begining she seems to be regular Helen, and then at the end she suddenly has a thick Tennessee acent. Very strange. The movie runs a little long. The first two thirds are real strong, but the end leaves you wanting more. Big build up then minimum payoff.
OVERALL: I would say with some trimming this could be a very good movie. As of now 6.5 out of 10.
Spoondocket
