Its all an advert for Federal Express (Castaway (DVD))

Member Name: markw-d

Product:	Castaway (DVD)
Date:	13/01/02 (227 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You don't have to think, Good effects

Disadvantages: You don't get to think, One long advert, Too long

Sometimes T.V advert breaks can kill a film. In this one they would have made a nice piece of gentle relief from the 2 hour Federal Express advert which is Cast Away.

We didn’t see the film at the pictures, although we always meant to because the trailers looked so good, Tom Hanks is a great actor and the subject matter looked gripping.

So what is the plot?

Quite simply Hanks plays the part of a Federal Express trouble shooter, who travels the world helping Fed Ex’s foreign operators to match the companies “All American” vision and mission. The film opens with him delivering a briefing to the Moscow distribution depot with all of the passion of a General briefing his men before battle.

The archetypal hero, this man has a reputation built on legend, a legend whereby he stole a bicycle when his van broke down in order to make sure that whatever happened the Fed Ex parcel would get through on time. This is the start of a theme and is re-enforced by at east 30 Fed Ex logo’s in every scene.

Hanks is a kind of Postman Pat in the genre of Superman….this guy delivers!

He flies home to love interest Helen Hunt (can’t make my mind up…is she stunning, or not very pretty at all?) for Xmas, however before the season is over he is called away again. This time to a far flung destination in the Pacific. They say a tearful goodbye in their Jeep Cherokee, with the most lingering moment being taken with the Jeep logo in the middle of the steering wheel in backdrop, and the fleet of Fed Ex jets in the far background.

I won’t give the story away, but the clue is in the title!

After a dramatic trip to the special effects department, our hero ends up abandoned and alone on a desert island. This is no ordinary desert island however because this is the one which has a continual storm for several years.

The special effects by the way are quite understated,
and this is why they work. Surprising really when the Director is Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future).

This is where the film could have delivered some really cool, man against the elements material, but despite a couple of notable attempts (great tooth-ache cure!!) it never really gets there.

Our hero, Hanks also does some very frustratingly stupid things, which are out of his timekeeping clockwatching organised character, which leave you shouting at the screen. An example being trying to row through very big surf in a puctured blow up dinghy in order to leave an island with food and water to just set off into the worlds biggest ocean. He loses your sympathy very quickly.

What it does deliver (just like Fed Ex I suspect) however, is several reasons to use Fed Ex as a delivery service.

Ø A good many of the FedEx parcels survived the crash, not only intact but with the goods inside in perfect condition. A testimony to FedEx packaging.
Ø There are an amazing variety of goods which can be sent by Fed Ex (is the theme becoming clear yet?) including Ice Skates (awkward shape), a volley ball, and video tapes.
Ø Fed Ex parcels will always come home to their staff in emergency.

At his point Fed Ex shares some of the airtime with Wilson (the manufacturer of quality sports goods) as the Wilson volleyball becomes Hanks’s best mate and confidant, leading to at least 250 shouts of “WILSON….WILSON…WHERE ARE YOU”.

Maybe its subliminal but when I went to buy golf balls today and they asked which brand I wanted , I shouted “WILSON….WILSON….”

To be fair Hanks does his best to act the part of a Castaway surrounded by labels, however at times I found myself thinking of the Truman Show, where Jim Carreys surroundings are peppered with product placement. He also loses a huge amount of weight throughout the film, leaving me suspecting that he was actually on GMT
V’s Inch-loss Island.

There are also some quite implausible happenings in that he is seemingly constantly bleeding into shallow waters, without a shark ever taking any notice. He makes himself some shoes early on out of palm leaves, as he has cut his feet to ribbons and then climbs a mountain, which would have Edmund Hillary puffing and panting.

Again I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t sussed it out by now, however suffice to say that the Jeep Cherokee gets another piece of the advertising exposure later on with lingering side shots and compliments about “This is a Great Car” …pan to close up of Jeep badge!

And there is a final accolade for Fed Ex parcels always getting through….again I won’t spoil it with recounting the detail here but you will see it coming a mile off.

The film is watchable enough on a cold winters night, and Hanks does his absolute best. I have to say however the blatant product placement and advertising does become distracting. There is one puzzling moment during the film, which isn’t actually explained until nearly at the end, however by that time I was bored and nearly missed it.

Helen Hunt does her thing well, and the special effects (not usually my favourite bit of a film) were actually very good.

I paid £3.50 to see it on Sky Box Office, and my advice would be to wait until it comes round on Sky Premier and spend the £3.50 on sending someone a parcel by Fed Ex, a box of Wilson golf balls, or a God Bless America sticker for the Jeep.

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