Cast Away

"Hanks's Everyman quality has never been more aptly utilised: He's the perfect stand-in for all of us who never made it to Eagle Scout."

"Takes admirable risks while avoiding pitfalls."

"Director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter William Broyles Jr. do a great job of keeping the cut-and-dried formula from, well, getting too cut and dried."

"At its best, Cast Away, like Titanic, awes us with its sheer oceanic sweep and its cosmic apprehension of human insignificance."

"Hanks conducts a master class in acting by showing a man losing his sense of himself in fractional gradations."

"Tom Hanks does a superb job of carrying Cast Away all by himself for about two-thirds of its running time, but isn't much helped by additional characters in the opening and closing sequences."

"A blockbuster with the soul of an art film, Cast Away is an enormously gratifying surprise ending to a generally disappointing year at the movies."

"Thoroughly absorbing."