From: (No Email available)

Date: 2000-12-26 23:53:40

Comment:

I have to agree and disagree with points that you make about this film. 

We go to movies for entertainment. I think that most people do. If it's a good story, or more importantly, an entertaining story and it's somehow complimented by great acting, special effects, cinematogaraphy or even better, all of the above, then that's a big plus. Reviewers often find merit in "one" attribute or another and forget why people shell out big bucks for movies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that people should all be drawn to mindless Police Academy type dribble, but I do think that directors get carried away in the boring aspects of their films at times. Things that we really don't care about, or that don't matter, or that don't develop the characters. 

With all of that being said, back to this movie. I love Tom Hanks and while I think this was another of his many outstanding performances, I hate to admit that it still wasn't enough to salvage this movie. Yes, there were some important messages that one could learn (if that's why you go to movies). 

The summary is that they were way off target on this one. Very little entertainment value, lots of serious errors in the story as well. Just to name a few... 
Birthday card at Christmas, why, why not a Christmas card? Skates and other packages with not so much as a letter, card, packing slip or anything else? Island that size with coconuts and very few trees. Where did the constant supply of trees come frome after he started burning? Where did all of the ripe coconuts come from, I thought they took some time to ripen?

Also: It wasn't just FED EX that was advertised. Don't forget Wilson Sports. I wonder how much these two kicked in on this movie? I was so ready to escape from the theatre, I didn't wait until the end titles to see their names. 

On a scale of 1-10, this movie would get a strong 2 from me for entertainment value. 

Summary: Reviewers need to start taking a more realistic look at why people go to movies. We go to feel good, to be entertained. This movie left you with an empty feeling, an unsure feeling and lots of unanswered questions.