It is the notion of the film that he is riding for a fall. Chuck is all nervous energy, naggy detail and crackling, empty camaraderie. He has a perfect girlfriend ( Helen Hunt) they have sex when their paths cross, but no time to develop a deeper relationship. Hanks' character in "Cast Away," Chuck Noland, is a FedEx executive troubleshooter, a company man who preaches the pressure of time to everyone. And Hanks, I think, after several emblematic roles now finds it natural and even necessary that he should play parts that speak to the nation. They are smart, fast, polite - they are, for many of us, the best dream of efficiency available on earth. The company is based in Memphis, Tenn., and it enjoys a corps of young, profit-participating, religiously motivated workers. Postal Service it charges high rates, but it has a spectacular record for reliable delivery. Or is he just the brisk, friendly, efficient face of Federal Express? FedEx is the priority-mail delivery service that took over the nation's trust from the U.S. He is the exact marriage between America's dream of real, modest heroes and homespun, shy actors. He is the actor of choice whenever life and history force themselves onto the screen. Tom wouldn't do it otherwise, would he? He wouldn't do something invented. What he gives us, apart from his reputation as a great actor, is a mix of amiability and authenticity you feel that it must have happened. Instead, a kind of static personality simply triumphs - or ignores more intriguing prospects. We do not really see Chuck facing the hazards and difficulties of the island, much less the limits of his character. And strangest of all, the story is left there inert and undeveloped. "Cast Away" isn't a tour de force it's slow, predictable and boring, yet also pious, sanctimonious and burdened with airs of self-improvement, as if Hanks had thought, Gee, yes, let's do it - let's have everyone feel that 1,500 days on a desert island would do them good, too. And being about Federal Express (more of which anon). I don't think audiences know what it's about - apart from being "about" Hanks, in the way shadows are about the sun. There's something sour in the way people regard this odd film and its doldrums. This is what Tom does every year or so."īut in the bowels of the nation's multiplexes, the mood is not the same. The spin control at Fox and DreamWorks, which share distribution, marvels: The man's on-screen alone for an hour or more! He has no cover! You just have to sit back, wave your hands and say, "Guys, this is Tom Hanks. On the surface, everything seems OK with "Cast Away." In only three weeks' business at the American box office it's done close to $150 million.
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