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Tom Hanks is such a master of the subtle gesture that one could happily watch him, say, rubbing two sticks together. That's good news for Cast Away, in which Hanks, playing a guy who has washed up on a deserted Pacific island after a plane crash, has to pull off that old Boy Scout firestarter trick.
Cast Away, as directed by Robert Zemeckis (What Lies Beneath), could have used more of the sparks that Hanks finally generates in that scene. Heck, it could have used Survivor bully Richard Hatch. The movie, while a bravura acting triumph for Hanks (he impressively holds the screen alone for some 75 often dialogue-free minutes), goes flat in its final, draggy stretch when it overreaches for significance. Yes, the great truths in life are simple, but do they have to sound simple-minded enough to embroider on a sampler?
Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a systems engineer for Federal Express who works as an international troubleshooter. Early on, he lectures Russian employees in Moscow about keeping to a schedule. "We live or die by the clock," Chuck says. Time runs out for him a few days later when, having promised his longtime girlfriend Kelly (Hunt) that he will be back home in Memphis soon, he boards a FedEx jet that goes down in a storm. For the next four years Chuck wanders his lonely island, searching for water, victuals, shelter and the meaning of life. For companionship, he converses with a volleyball he christens Wilson (after its manufacturer). Let's just say a little volleyball talk goes a long way.
Hanks, who took a year off (and lost 50 lbs.) between shooting the movie's first and second half, keeps quietly surprising you. Watch, for example, when Chuck comes to after the crash and discovers he's still alive. Hanks doesn't yell or scream, he just breathes and breathes great, huge, life-savoring gulps of air. (PG-13)
Bottom Line: Hanks is tops, but no man is an island
Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn
There are only so many ways to hang off the side of a mountain, dangle at the end of a fast-fraying rope and get pounded by an avalanche. Vertical Limit figures out how to show each at maximum effect. An adventure thriller about mountain climbing, the film features heart-clutching action sequences that go a long way toward compensating for its routine plot and dialogue.
Most of Limit takes place in the rarefied air 26,000 ft. above sea level on K2, a Himalayan peak that rivals Everest as a climbing challenge. When an experienced mountaineer (Tunney) and two buds wind up at the bottom of an icy crevasse, her older brother (O'Donnell) has just 36 hours to rescue her. The problem? He hasn't scrambled up a mountain in three years, ever since their dad died in a climbing accident.
Director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro) has figured out swell new ways to shoot snow and ice at great heights, giving an immediacy to the stunts that will make viewers zip their own parkas tighter. But the characters are drawn with a yellow highlighter, and O'Donnell, while personable and cute, won't be playing Hamlet anytime soon. (PG-13)
Bottom Line: Peaks in the action scenes
Justin Whalin, Zoe McLellan, Marlon Wayans, Jeremy Irons
Irons, playing the ranting villain of this adventure film based on the fantasy game of the same name, seems to be under the impression that he's portraying Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest. He shrieks and wails against the fates and, when that doesn't work, he yells louder, as if raising the volume could improve such lines as, "I must have that Rod of Savrille."
Of interest solely to hard-core D&D fans, the film features a bland teen cast battling Irons's wicked politician and his henchmen for possession of a magic staff that allows its holder to command flocks of dragons. Fie on all of 'em. (PG-13)
Bottom Line: Throw away the keys
>Bounce Gwyneth Paltrow shines in a savvy but contrived romance with ex-beau Ben Affleck. (PG-13)
Charlie's Angels Bodacious babes (Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu) kick butt. Dumb fun. (PG-13)
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas Tis the season for Jim Carrey's hilarious turn as the big green meanie. Fun for kids and adults. (PG)
Proof of Life Proof positive. While it's no Casablanca, to which it owes more than a nod, this romantic action drama is solidly entertaining. Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe and David Morse star. (R)
Quills Director Philip Kaufman uses the life of the Marquis de Sade (amusingly played by Geoffrey Rush) as the inspiration to examine what happens to an artist when society decides he must be silenced. Starts off well, but, like the Marquis himself, goes way too far. (R)
Unbreakable Bruce Willis plays a security guard who Samuel L. Jackson suspects just might be a superhero. Well done, though glum and slow. (PG-13)
You Can Count on Me Lovely small film for grown-ups about the ties that bind siblings, even in adulthood. There's excellent acting by Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. (R)
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
