--- title: "Cast Away: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/cast-away/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/cast-away" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cast Away (2000): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 7 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Cast Away, with praise centred on Tom Hanks’ physical performance and the sustained attention to the practical work of survival. The island sequences are widely judged absorbing, making isolation, improvisation and loneliness compelling with little need for dialogue. Robert Zemeckis’ visual storytelling, the staging of the plane crash and the detailed production design also earn approval, even from reviews less persuaded by the film’s larger ideas. The reservations concern heavy symbolism, uneven momentum and a tendency towards sentimentality outside the central survival story. The spread is wider than the broadly positive consensus suggests: Time Out finds the solemn tone wearing, while The Guardian objects to the commercial branding and lack of psychological curiosity. The Telegraph goes further, rejecting Hanks’ credibility as a survivor and finding little dramatic subtlety; most other reviews regard his performance as the film’s chief strength. ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 December 2000. The critic highlights the film's startling physicality and mesmerizing depiction of suffering, improvisation, and survival, focusing on the detailed airplane crash and Hanks' bodily performance. It is described as an old-fashioned adventure epic rather than a triumph of the human spirit. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/18/high-tide) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2000. Zemeckis delivers an intriguing survival and redemption saga that should be a huge box-office hit and earn Oscar nominations; it is more mature than his prior work but still features simplistic symbolism, with Hanks giving an awesome everyman performance. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/cast-away/404487.article) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 December 2000. Zemeckis' film is gripping and thoughtful, with Hanks delivering a strong performance that turns his everyman character into something more universal. The director's visual sense and the film's focus on time, isolation, and survival are highlighted as strengths. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/cast-away-1798192552) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 December 2000. The critic commends the bold risks taken by Zemeckis and Hanks in this unique stranded-on-an-island story, praising Hanks' bravura performance and the meticulous production design. Some stretches lack dramatic momentum and veer into the overly metaphysical. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/cast-away-2-1200465966/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 December 2000. The critic notes the film's top-notch filmmaking and visuals but finds it more of a straightforward survivor tale than the philosophical work intended, with the high-minded ideas only sporadically realized. The production details and Hanks' commitment are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-22-ca-3283-story.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2012. The critic finds Hanks' performance solid enough to carry much of the film alone and praises the well-staged crash, but faults the overly serious tone and heavy symbolism that make the story drag on too long. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/cast-away) ## Empire — William Thomas 1 January 2000. The film delivers a powerful, absorbing depiction of a man marooned on a desert island, with expertly sustained wordless moviemaking and strong performances elevating familiar survival tropes. It falters somewhat on the emotional payoff after the protagonist's return to civilization. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cast-away-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 12 January 2001. The film is a two-hour-plus advertisement for FedEx with no interest in the personal or social implications of being marooned. It is deeply silly, with Hanks emerging unchanged and robust rather than traumatised. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/12/culture.reviews) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Kirk Honeycutt 8 December 2000. The film is an intermittently successful survival tale that fails to fully deliver on its themes of what is truly important in life. Hanks' performance and Zemeckis' visuals are praised, but the emotional undercurrents after the return to civilization are underexplored. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/cast-away-review-2000-movie-1171361/) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 22 December 2000. The critic praises the film's gripping central section depicting survival and isolation on a desert island, highlighting Hanks' performance and the evocation of loneliness and human insignificance. The bookend narrative is seen as more formulaic and corny. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/22/movies/film-review-ultimate-survivor-man-against-nature.html) ## The Telegraph — Andrew O'Hagan Hanks is hardly credible as a survivor and the movie itself is beyond belief, with no human or dramatic subtlety. It is tabloid cinema obsessed with media frenzy rather than genuine drama or character. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturereviews/10514113/Cast-Away-2000-original-Telegraph-review.html) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 24 January 2001. The critic praises the film's focus on survival and Tom Hanks' performance in keeping the audience engaged during the long island sequence, but finds the post-rescue section overly sentimental. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/cast-away-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/cast-away.md