Click to read the article
Cast Away (2000)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:135
Rotten:16
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Critics say that by focusing on one man in one setting, Cast Away takes considerable risks, but ultimately it succeeds. Tom Hanks is excellent in the role, and the movie's themes make it larger than a simple physical survivor story.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] intense action sequences and some disturbing images
Runtime: 2 hrs 23 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 22, 2000 Wide
Box Office: $233,249,446
Synopsis:
Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock. His fast-paced career takes him, often at a moment's notice, to far-flung locales...
Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock. His fast-paced career takes him, often at a moment's notice, to far-flung locales -- and away from his girlfriend Kelly, played by Helen Hunt.
Chuck's manic existence abruptly ends when, after a plane crash, he becomes isolated on a remote island -- cast away into the most desolate environment imaginable. Stripped of the conveniences of everyday life, he first must meet the basic needs of survival, including water, food and shelter. Chuck, the consummate problem solver, eventually figures out how to sustain himself physically. But then what? Chuck begins his true personal journey.
After four years, fate gives Chuck a chance to fight his way back to civilization, only to find an unexpected emotional challenge greater than all the earlier physical ones. His ability to persevere and to hope are a product of his life-changing experience. Though the conclusion of Chuck's story may not be a conventional Hollywood ending, it is, like life, full of truth, pain and promise. -- © 2000 20th Century Fox
Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searcy, Lari White
Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searcy, Lari White, Chris Noth, Viveka Davis, Valerie Wildman
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenwriter: William Broyles
Producer: Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke, Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks
Composer: Alan Silvestri
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Cast Away
...an odd and unbalanced undertaking that pays distinctive attention to the appropriate elements but then draws back at all the wrong moments...
Cast Away is, in many ways, a bold, adventurous bid for Oscardom. Unfortunately, what it delivers for audiences, as opposed to Oscar voters, is a little questionable.
A heavy-handed Hymn to the Human Spirit, and a pretty joyless one at that.
Hanks and Zemeckis begin with an intriguing premise...and, by the film's end, smother that premise under a tidal wave of sentimentality and schmaltz.
Hanks fans may very well love this movie, but it does not fulfill its promise.
A handsomely made, instructive but finally tedious blow-by-blow training film on island survival that it throws the entire venture out of balance, capsizing the enterprise and making it difficult to keep any kind of message afloat.
Zemeckis is a capable director, so despite the misguided concept, the movie is anything but inept.
When I prayed to the film divinities that I wanted less Tom Hanks at the movies, I didn't just mean that I wanted him to be thinner.
In terms of story and pacing, the whole of Cast Away is a lot less then the sum of its parts.
While Hanks' performance is masterful in this tale of survival, the movie runs out of steam, and direction, at the end.
It's really kind of ironic. The old Chuck's life is ruled by the clock. Once he's learned better, we don't get enough time with him because the author's decided it was time to go. Oh, well.
It was the tail of the tale, the last 25 minutes, that left me marooned.
The bottom line is that Cast Away is reaching for so many cosmic truths that it never achieves the emotional kick that any survival story must have.
The choppy narrative makes Chuck's ordeal seem more brief than it is. As shown, it's merely the world's worst layover.
As they did in Forrest Gump, Zemeckis and Hanks go Big Theme hunting. This time their prey eludes them.
Latest News for Cast Away
June 22, 2005:
Ridley Scott Jumps In to "Shadow Divers"
The always-busy Ridley Scott ("Kingdom of Heaven") has signed on to bring Robert Kurson's novel "Shadow Divers" to the big screen, says Variety. Mr. Scott... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



