Wenchwatches: Cast Away (2000)

This film really was what cemented Tom Hanks as more than just a comedy actor. While we've seen lesser known successes such as Road To Perdition or Apollo 13, this was what really changed the trajectory of his career.

It should be of no surprise that I also had the fortune to see this film in the theater shortly after the premier. 2000 was toward the end of what felt like a golden era when classic films seemed to be coming out all the time. Granted, I was also in high school and then college so going to the movies was a common thing to do.

Let's watch!

After running a package through Russia, we finally arrive at our star, Hanks.

Immediately we find he's playing a character rarely seen from him before: A complete, total jerk. A higher-up at FedEx, he's overbearing, tightly wound, and has little interest in media or...really enjoying life at all. He rewards a child package-runner with an Elvis CD, citing the sales numbers "can't be wrong".  He's a man ruled by the clock by his own admission, paid with all of capitalism's accolades.

Mid-bite, at a lavish Christmas dinner of the sort I can only imagine rich people having, he's paged away back to work.

The main point of this overbearing character is contrast to the end of the film. One of the unique challenges for Cast Away is that it is essentially, a one-person show. Knowing the premise -- it was well communicated by both the trailers and even the title itself -- we know the shape of the plot. Man gets stranded on uninhabited island, survives, eventually finds his way home.

If that were the sum total of the film, it'd probably unremarkable. The film's key appeal, however, is that the real plot is character development.

Not only are we the Angel Wings Package, we're also much like Hanks' overbearing character at the start of the film. Tightly wound, time obsessed, little space to enjoy life. If only we were all so materially wealthy to have the opportunity instead of toiling away in 40 years of economic stagnation.

The film is already handing out Checkov's Guns. Hank's toothache is one of them, and makes for a key plot point later.

Another one is the pocketwatch given by his wife. An antique, manually wound, it's a precious link back to the world to which Hank's is familiar. It even includes a picture of his wife to complete the effect.

It's this pocketwatch which both saves and damns him during the crash sequence. Instead of reaching for a life vest, he has what feels like a rare moment of empathy and reaches for the watch.

The crash sequence is one of my favorites among movies. While it gives you plenty of foreshadowing with the behavior of the flight crew prior to the disaster, when it (literally) hits, its jarring. What impresses me is the detail. The way the cargo containers shift indicates the orientation of the falling craft.

My favorite moment in the sequence however, was telegraphed by sound. As Hank surfaces the water, the whine of a jet engine grows louder and louder. It's hard to even make out over the din of the disaster until at last he looks up, and see's the turbofan spinning above him.

Until I saw this film in the theater, I rarely guessed a film's intentions or internalized it as something with conventions and tricks of it's own.

I usually like to think of films have a four act structure. A lot of great storytelling follows this formula, so it's not uncommon that film's also do the same.

Act one was the civilized world.
Act two was his initial marooning on the island.

Already in the second act we see his character changing, but also holding on to his previous life. Instead of raiding the packages which washed ashore, he stores them as if expecting to be rescued and return to his high paced FedEx life. The gravity of the situation begins to fall on him when he discovers the body of the flight crew washed ashore.

Hank's acting continues to impress here. His reaction to the decaying corpse -- a shocked, dismayed yelp -- lacks any sort of pride or decorum, yet it's entirely human. He does what any human would do in this situation too; he takes what he can from the body which might contribute to his survival and buries the rest.

"So that's it." It's hard not to feel Hank's old life die a little with that line.

The real death of his old life happens after the failed attempt to sail out to a passing ship. Not only does it fail with grievous injury, but sheltering in a cave he passes out with the flashlight on. The batteries run out when he comes to, closing the second act.

The third act, of course, is Wilson. There's a lot of potential reads for this, but I prefer the kindest one. Overcome with loneliness and isolation, he creates something to help.

A great way of explaining this is actually in a film that comes 13 years after this one. In Interstellar, there's a moment where Dr. Mann says "pray you never know what it's like to hunger for a human face". Wilson is that human face for Hank's character.

It also provides a great narrative device. Until this point, there's very little dialog. If the film continued in that way, the pacing might have dragged or become monotonous. Instead, it allows the scriptwriter to add dialog in a believable way. This makes adding depth to the story.

And yes, I also believe Hank's character doesn't *actually* believe Wilson talks. It's his own thoughts embodied by a character he's created, complete with a focusing prop. I mean, he even yells at it acknowledging it's just a volleyball. Nevertheless, it's emotionally load bearing for Hank's character. To discard Wilson, is to have the weight of four years of complete isolation come down on him.

Throughout this film we see how small objects are used as signifiers of a huge life change for the character. The pocketwatch, the flashlight, and now Wilson. Wilson is more than just an means to help subdue the isolation, it's also a metaphor for his life in the island. In escaping that island, he loses Wilson too. This only leaving the now broken pocketwatch and the Angel Wings Package.

Amid comparative luxury, we see Hank's to marvel at the simplicity a lighter, an electric lamp, or even a folding knife on the end of a keyring. Ice in in his glass.

The pocketwatch is a metaphor for all he's trying to return to. To an old life which we quickly discover no longer exists. Presumed dead, four years past, she's remarried and had children. No longer a timepiece, Hank's wears it like a locket.

Yet, that past is gone. His old life, his marriage, even his old tightly wound nature is gone. He not only can't step back into his old life, he's no longer the same *person* either. After a brief reunion with his wife...he returns the watch.

The ending of the film often as the potential to frustrate audiences. What even was *in* the Angel Wings Package?

There's a lot of potential reads here. I've already mentioned how it was a stand in for the audience. As little objects are metaphors here, it's return not only signals Hanks coming full circle. It could be a sign of a new relationship, as we can imagine him returning to the artist who original sent the package.

In this rewatch, I feel it's a metaphor for the future. The use of angel wings is apt, as his old life is gone, and he's been reborn to a new, uncertain, unknown one. A quieter, slower one, more willing to experience each moment.

It doesn't matter what was *in* the package at all. That was never the point.

While Wilson has entered into the broader cultural zeitgeist as one memed to death, I feel it's only appropriate as it hides our own embarrassment. Alone for four years, afraid, isolated, each of us in our arrogance would say we wouldn't "lose it" like Hanks' character. It's all bluster and bullshit, of course; as humans we are profoundly social beings. So many of us would turn to our own Wilsons if was the only face available to us other than our own.

Cast Away is an excellent piece of film work. It's a tour de force for Hanks, and established him as an actor with serious cred for serious roles. Above all, the film is oddly...quiet. The scriptwriting is exemplary and I've only come to appreciate it more in understanding it as a work of writing.

If you haven't seen it in a few years, give it a watch, won't you?