Cast Away: Difference between revisions

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Chuck Noland has everything: a successful, high-paying job, a woman who loves him, and enough money to buy anything he wants. The only thing he doesn't have enough of... is time. This changes when he is in a plane crash and, finding himself the sole survivor, makes his way to an uninhabited island where he has to figure out how to survive. Now Chuck has all the time he could ever want... and nothing else but his own wits, his two hands, and a volleyball for companionship.

If anything, like a modern day [[Robinson Crusoe (Literature)|Robinson Crusoe]].

[[Tom Hanks]] tries to make a dramatic and emotional movie wherein 80% of its 2 1/2-hour length is him, alone, on a remote island, talking to a volleyball.

{{tropelist|Tropes in '''''Cast Away''''' are [[Product Placement|Broughtbrought to you by Federal Express.]].}}

** It's an interesting bit of trivia that according to the commentary that the scene {{spoiler|was the part of the movie that confused watchers between the ages of 14 and 20 in the test audience. They were either too accustomed to the idea of the protagonist [[Happily Ever After|getting the girl in the end]] or weren't yet emotionally ready to grasp the sheer complexity of adult relationships.}}

* [[At the Crossroads]]: {{spoiler|The ending. Two possible paths to his future. It's all very symbolic.}}

* [[Can You Hear Me Now?]]: Portrayed realistically here.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: As mentioned under [[Gallows Humor]], Chuck remembers his dentist was Dr. Spaulding. When he returns, he discovers {{spoiler|Kelly has married Dr. Spaulding's colleague (Jerry Lovett) and started a family with him}}.

* [[Chekhov's Hobby]],: aA very subtle one: Right before the family diner scene, the audience briefly sees Chuck's sailing certification and sailing awards. No wonder then that {{spoiler|he finds the right solution to overcome the powerful wave that prevented him from leaving the island and manages to do it when the weather conditions are optimal.}}

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|It's gradually revealed that Noland tried to hang himself.}} {{spoiler|Planned, he planned to kill himself. Good thing he did a "dry run" first with a dummy, or else he would've just broken his legs and died of exposure or dehydration.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Chuck Noland''': So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I - , I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to.}}}}

{{quote| "Gotta love crab. In the nick of time too. I couldn't take much more of those coconuts. Coconut milk is a natural laxative. That's something [[GilligansGilligan's Island|Gilligan]] never told us."}}

* [[The Great Politics Mess -Up]]: At the beginning of the film, Chuck was setting up a Fed Ex office in Moscow, where they were still taking down pictures of Lenin and wowed by Snickers bars and [[Elvis Presley]] CDs.

* [[Large Ham]]: Chuck - after lived several years in the savage jungle everyone would become this.

** And maybe some sea birds, but we don't get to see any. The portrayal of the island as a vaguely primordial ecosystem (very little wildlife, only a few dominant species of plants) that can barely even support a small human population [[Shown Their Work|is fully in line with how such small Polynesian islands look like]]. It was shot on one of the more remote islands of Fiji (geographic border of Melanesia/Polynesia) and it shows...

* [[Say My Name]]: {{spoiler|"WIIILLLLLLSOOOOOONNNNNNN! I'm sorry, Wilson!" Yes, only Tom Hanks can yell that line, believably, at a volleyball}}, and not make it [[Narm|sound stupid.]]

* [[Setting Update]]: ''Cast Away'' is ''[[Robinson Crusoe (Literature)|Robinson Crusoe]]'' <small>IN THE MID-LATE 90S WITH A VOLLEYBALL AS FRIDAY!</small>

* [[Stranger in Aa Familiar Land]]: {{spoiler|Chuck experiences this when he makes it back home.}}

** Even more frustatinglyfrustratingly, Zemeckis openly admits to spoiling his films in trailers on purpose, saying that marketing shows that audiences want to know what EXACTLY what they're going to. Thus, most of the suspense of the film is sapped upon seeing said trailer.

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: We never find out what's in the last FedEx box. Hell, we never even find out why he didn't open it. (Seesee [[MacGuffin]], above).)

* [[Unstoppable Mailman]]: Even after being stranded on an island for years, he still delivers the last package. (Strictlystrictly speaking, he doesn't. Like the song said, he "[[Elvis Presley|Return[s it] to Sender]]".).

[[Category:TropeFilm]]