I was dragged to watch this movie by friends and I went unwillingly, expecting it to be a drag. Afer all, I reasoned, a guy marooned on an island for the better part of the movie- how interesting could that possibly be?? Quite interesting as it turned out. Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who is a compulsive workaholic who is constantly pushing himself and everyone around him to beat the deadlines.The irony that a man for whom time is god and whose mission in life is to do things faster and quicker is ultimately stuck on an island with all the time in the world is very striking.On a business trip , his plane crashes in the ocean and he is the sole survivor- so far , no surprises.In fact, throughout the movie , there are no surprises( except for what happens after the rescue but we’ll come to that in a bit....) , its the superlative portrayal of the marooned survivor by Hanks that keeps the audience hooked.
Helen Hunt plays Hanks’ wife who remarries after giving him up for dead.There lies the twist in the tale- though the two are still very much in love, they are not re-united in a happy ending with the second husband conveniently dropping dead or nobly stepping out of the way a la Bollywood .One is also glad that the makers of this movie stayed away from cliches such as giving Hanks’ character a faithful dog for company on the island or any other pet animal or bird for that matter- the volleyball was a stroke of sheer genius! Mr Wilson, the volleyball, outshone Hunt whose lacklustre performance did not justify even the mere 30 minutes of screentime that she gets..... Hanks of course is brilliant...its his movie all the way!!!