 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
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Cast Away
- Review Date: May 18, 2003
- PG-13
- Genre: Drama
- 2000
Common Sense Media says
Tom Hanks' powerful, brutal and mature story.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has brief strong language, a very scary plane crash, a dead body, and scenes of peril (some bloody). The deprivation and losses may be very upsetting to some kids and teens. Noland considers suicide, and speaks of attempting it, which some people may also find disturbing.
What's the story?
Called to duty on Christmas Eve, Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a precise time-watcher who works for Federal Express, promises his girlfriend (Helen Hunt) that he'll be home for New Year's. But his plane crashes in the Pacific, and everyone else is killed. Chuck washes up on a deserted island. Suddenly, all he has is time. He expects to be rescued, and sorts the FedEx packages that wash up. When he finally realizes no one's coming, he gets to work, using items from the packages as survival tools. A volleyball, stained with his own blood, becomes a companion. But he leaves one package unopened as a symbol of his identity – the man who gets the packages delivered. Four years later, the side of a cabin bathroom washes ashore, and Noland has what he needs to create a sail. He knows the tides and the seasons well and plans an escape, knowing he'd rather die out on the ocean than stay on the island. What finally makes it possible for him to leave isn't what he relied on in his old life, but the hope he has learned on the island. Still, it is his sense of the press of time that it spurs him to action.
Is it any good?
Cast Away is a moving exploration of what happens when everything we hold on to is taken away from us. There may be crystal waters and azure skies, but this is no "Blue Lagoon" and he is no Brooke Shields. There is no music, and almost no dialogue. It is brutal and painful. For 45 minutes, we are alone on the island with Noland. He shreds his leg on coral and has to extract an abscessed tooth. Noland is an engaging character, and Hanks is undeniably one of the world's most engaging actors. But it is more impressive than involving and begins to seem more of an acting exercise than a saga about the triumph of the human spirit or the importance of love and family.
There are some moving and beautiful moments on the raft, especially the glimpse of a whale's eye peeking just above the water. But once he gets home, the movie falters. We know, though, that the world he left now seems strange to him and that it will take a long while for him to reorient himself and decide where he will go next. He has mastered the skill of spearing a fish and making a raft, but he has to learn a whole new set of survival skills back at home.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what is left when we strip away the conventions and conveniences of our society. How do we decide what our priorities are, and what our values are? Compare this movie to other desert island sagas, from Lord of the Flies to The Admirable Crichton.
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AGE
WILSON!
My second favorite movie Tom Hanks has acted in. Very powerful and just an all around awesome movie that teaches kids (and adults) to never give up on your loved ones, and do whatever it takes to be with them. 5 stars forever.
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AGE
Interesting
The coconut should have won best supporting actor. Excellent movie
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AGE
Good but Creepy.
This movie was a great movie but its kinda creepy. The body found on the island and the airplane crash is graphic. Wait till your kids are pre-teens to see it.
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AGE
Great movie that teaches children the importance of survival
My kids loved this movie. They were very interested in how he was going to survive and get off the island. Yes, there were a few brief disturbing scenes. However, they did not last long. Overwhelmingly, the movie captured my kids attention a lot more than I thought it could. They were trying to figure out what they would do and how they would handle this type of a situation.
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AGE
WIIIIIIIIILSON!!!!
For those who havent seen this movie yet... Get your heads out of the sand and rent it. Better yet, buy it! I know, I know, how can you like a movie that only has 2 characters for 90% of the movie? and one is a coconut (wilson). Well you will, Tom Hanks is simply Briliant in this movie! Must have seen this movie 20 times. Never gets boring! Watching Hanks learn how to make due on a deserted island is very entertaining. Cant tell you too much about this as to give away plot. ONLY ITS A MUST RENT/OWN for all viewers. Beginning of movie is a little scarry, but is entirely necessary to show how he ends up on the island. Wilson should have gotten the oscar for best supporting actor!
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AGE
great haertwrenching sad movie
defintly a chick flick love it
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| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Robert Zemeckis |
| Cast: | Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez, Tom Hanks |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 143 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 22, 2000 |
| DVD release date: | March 5, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | some intense images and action sequences |
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