That is, in all honesty, pretty much it for a synopsis of Cast Away. In narrative terms it is a very simple film: a guy washes ashore on an island, he survives there for a time, and he eventually tries to get home. I think that is perhaps why the film continues to be so consistently overlooked. Its director, Robert Zemeckis, is an acclaimed and award-winning director responsible for several massive commercial and critical hits including Back to the Future, Contact and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. People rarely seem to discuss Cast Away on a par with his more popular films, and I think that is more than a little unfair. The story of Cast Away may be simple, but the manner in which it is told - and the central performance by Tom Hanks - is remarkably good.
