What is up with this movie? Just watched it recently and it's aged incredibly poorly imo
It's been well established that Tom Hanks is a CIA asset, and we've had a handful of threads about how Forrest Gump sucks this year, and it definitely bleeds into Cast Away as well.
- The "end of history" moment right at the beginning of the movie, where FedEx brings "freedom" to post-USSR Russia.
- The whole film is just an ad for FedEx
- I know things need to look good on film, but decades later, a lot of the survival scenes are simply unconvincing. The firemaking setup didn't look particularly efficient, and the wood didn't really look worn or charred as though it were starting to smolder, it just kinda happens. Same for the idea of throwing a fishing spear, which may happen, but I've never heard of that being successful.
- Hanks going full Boomer-mode with his mental math in a few scenes kinda felt like it had a tone of "yeah they don't teach this stuff in schools anymore, this is how it's done 😔 "
- The conclusion was drawn out and boring af, just watching him stand idly at a crossroads for like 15 minutes or something. His interactions with his love interest felt uncompelling.
- Goes for just about any Tom Hanks movie, but it's like the whitest shit I've ever seen. Watching a PMC bossman try and open a coconut and the movie is acting like there's some sort of supreme ingenuity to it.
Idk I'm probably being over the top, so please pile on or tell me to chill out about it or whatever.
Why's he okay with talking to the volleyball, but he avoids basketballs? What's up with that, huh?
I dug how Wilson was born of fear and frustration and anger, and then adopted the role of negative naysayer. it was pretty brilliant because survival takes a shitload of optimism, but fear can't be ignored for long.
I also dug most everything about the movie, including the quiet, but loving surrender of his former fiance. it felt so real and deep, because he knew his memory of her kept him alive, but after he was back, he had to let it go.
I also really liked the open ending and how slow/quiet and sensitively observant he had come to be. how he was driving way out into the truly rural US to hand deliver the package, without really a big plan but to see more of the quiet earth. that resonated with me big time, as a more dramatic and extreme version of my own life.
hot take: Tom Hanks is a pretty good actor and AFAIK he's not on the flight logs therefore he's pretty good.
Meh bad take. I liked the movie.
Sure it is not anything groundbreaking or particularly noteworthy, it is an average-good movie simply because there are at least a couple of things that stand out.
The portrayal of the basic human need for social interaction, you know it is the old cliche "the last man alive on earth", but realy not many people put too much weight on what real isolation feels like and what effect it would have on you.
So he ends up creating a fictional friend and becomes so emotionally attached to it to the point it is harmful, many people would have died when he tries to rescue the ball as it floats away.
The survival scenes may not be entirely accurate but most people wont know any better honestly, and imo at least a couple of them were funny, I liked the tooth problem bit, it is definitely relatable if you ever had those I think eventually you'd try something just as stupid after a while.
As for Tom Hanks at least in that movie he gets significant prop for the actual work he had to do behind the scenes with losing weight and all that, say what you want but he had dedication and it wasn't even a particularly high budget movie either. He definitely managed to look the part within reason obviously you would never get an actor to actualy look malnourished enough except with lots of CGI these days.
Also you underrate how hard it is to act in a mostly solo movie, not having someone to read lines with, reacting to their character etc. It is not trivial to basically talk to an object/monologue for a whole movie and make that believable.
As for the Fedex ad I don't know if seeing having your plane crash is a good ad. In the end though most people don't realy care for small details like so it is not particularly high rated either.
Also you underrate how hard it is to act in a mostly solo movie, not having someone to read lines with, reacting to their character etc. It is not trivial to basically talk to an object/monologue for a whole movie and make that believable.
I didn't really mention this in the post cause I just felt like trashing on it, but this is definitely the standout if the entire film for me, I definitely rate that aspect highly
obviously you would never get an actor to actualy look malnourished enough
What a terrible letterboxd article. That's not a "source", that's a first draft of something that could turn into a half decent article.
Hanks going full Boomer-mode with his mental math in a few scenes kinda felt like it had a tone of "yeah they don’t teach this stuff in schools anymore, this is how it’s done 😔
Reactionaries' obsession with doing the "right" kind of math and fighting against the "wrong" math is absolutely hilarious.
Math isn't real. Computers use 64 numbers that have to be represented by letters because they does not exist in conventional math, 6/2(1+2) have two valid answers that are correct depending on the context, and the number zero objectively does not exist in real life which is why a lot of cultures straight up never discovered it - but it allows our monkey brain to expand our comprehension of math in a way previously not possible. Math is just a human tool we invented to make counting harvest easier, 2000 in the future people are going to laugh at our crusty 2nd millennium ass for not using "¤" the same way we talk about how Roman mathematics is finite.
the number zero objectively does not exist in real life
Say you are a wealthy capitalist, having inherited a factory. Now say we seize the means of production from you, how many factories do you have left?
Cant find a funny way to write this but it would none, which is different from zero which is still something as you can still use it, like dividing things with it.
that scene was actually a metaphor you see the character has come to a "crossroads" in his life, represented by the way the roads in the scene intersect each other.
What’s the metaphor for that part where he rips out a tooth with an ice skate
I like the movie so I'll address a few of the points:
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the Russia thing? Idk the movie came out like a decade after the collapse, I never really got the impression they were dunking on the former USSR. A pretty small part of the movie that just happened to take place there IMO.
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FedEx 100% had to have paid a ton for all the product placement. I think at the time it came out they defended it as "well if you use a fake company then it's too distracting" but I don't buy that for a second since the CEO/founder of FedEx makes a goddamn cameo! It's bad and horrible but ultimately while it makes the movie a lot worse it doesn't ruin it for me.
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One thing you didn't criticize it for which to me is the biggest sin of the movie (at least tied with the FedEx thing) is how they spoiled the ending in the trailer! I saw it in the theaters and going in I knew he made it back, which massively reduces the drama.
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All the other points... idk to each their own but to me I just don't care. Ultimately it's a pretty great acting job from one of the best actors in Hollywood. I mean, that scene where he loses Wilson for good... he just sells that so well as an actor gets me every time. Yes, Forrest Gump sucks big time (I even wrote a post here dunking on it); but it sucks because it's a reactionary boomer take on how they think history vindicates them as basically god's chosen people. The last reason it sucks is the acting, Hanks is legitimately good there too.
All the other points… idk to each their own but to me I just don’t care.
Yeah, especially the survivalist and coconut criticism are truly shallow imo
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If I reel it in a bit, my actual opinion on the film is a few notches closer to yours than what I posted about
