By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is a Federal Express courier company executive forever flying the world. His fiancee, Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt), loves a man who loves his pager more.
Noland's flight across the Pacific is blown off-course then crashes after an explosion onboard
(one disaster is enough for most movie plots). Noland floats in a life-raft to a desert island. Lost without clocks and timetables, he silently reverts to a boy scout.
Fast-forward four years and the executive formerly known as chubby is a skinny Action Man who'd run rings around those wimps on Survivor. He paints a face on a volleyball and names it Wilson. This gives him an excuse to talk out loud, which you will probably appreciate this far into the movie.
One day the giant bow of a supertanker looms over his raft and ... you didn't really think I was going to tell you?
Hanks is superb, carrying the movie on his own for most of its running time, but the weak opening and closing mess up a strong and simple story.
Running time: 140 mins
Rental: Now
