Cast Away

A closer look at the story

Cast Away tells the story of Chuck Noland, a man whose life runs like clockwork. A senior international manager for FedEx, he has spent all his years in the modern urban world, jetting around the globe and working at a computer. He and Kelly, a doctoral student, are in love and on the way to getting married, yet Chuck is so wrapped up in his job that he often neglects the people he cares about, Kelly included. Then, in the middle of a violent storm, the plane he is travelling on plunges into the sea. The only survivor of the crash, Chuck washes up alone on a deserted island. There is no way off, and he has to work out for himself how to stay alive in this harsh new home. Will the days on the island transform the way he sees life, or will he be the same man if he ever gets back to the modern world? Robert Zemeckis directed this 143-minute adventure drama from 2000, written by William Broyles Jr. Tom Hanks plays Chuck and Helen Hunt plays Kelly, with Nick Searcy, Jenifer Lewis and Geoffrey Blake also in the cast.