TNMC

 I went to the theater on Friday night when the movie opened with high hopes for the new Tom Hanks film. I generally like all of his movies because of his ability to totally fall into a particular character. This movie is no different, Tom Hanks portrays his part masterfully, sometimes making the audience feel like they were watching something real and not just a staged movie. In addition the scenes and sound effects are stunning and put together well. I really can't find anything wrong with the beauty of the movie and the acting job by Hanks. Why did I only give the film two stars if I thought it was well made and well acted?  

Simple. This movie stunk. I have never been so bored with a movie in my life. Despite great acting, a good score, and fabulous scenery, it was slow, drawn out, and trite. Well over two thirds of the movie focus solely on Tom Hanks alone on the island, figuring out how to survive. While it is remotely interesting we KNOW he is going to have trouble opening coconuts and catching food. The scene where he builds fire lasts forever and he waits too damn long to start opening the packages.

After the "Four Years Later" transition we see a man who knows how to survive and who seems to be somewhere between Einstein brilliant and madman. He still relies on time having created his own calendar which somehow he has been able to figure out months and seasons as well as tidal and wind patterns in the south pacific. Some of this can be done by observation, but he doesn't appear to do a very good job keeping track of time in the beginning so figuring out what month it is by the sun while you're in the opposite hemisphere from home is nearly impossible unless you are a genius. He is a man mostly unchanged from the ruling principles in his life (time), his only change is losing hope.

Finally they find a way to bring him home and the entire movie goes downhill form there. While I agree that there was not enough time to go into the what-ifs and what-now scenarios that this story is perfect for, if they hadn't spent so much time on the island there would have been enough time. The what-if and what-now scenarios ARE the meat of this storyline and without them the movie is essentially a thirty minute story line drawn out over two hours. And please don't get me started on the ending. It was way too "cute" and "trite" for my tastes and very far from doing anything to sum up the story. In fact the last two to five minutes are an insult to anything they tried to build before hand. This movie had so much potential but a poor screenplay and some poor decisions on how to film the ending killed the whole thing.

In my opinion save your money and wait for the video unless you're dying to see it "on the big screen."

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