Hanks, in a performance more challenging and remarkable than either of the roles that won him Oscars, is Chuck Noland, a Federal Express systems engineer quality control Mr. Fix-it who is full of ambition, ability and the drive to succeed. He’s a problem solver, a guy terrifically skilled at overcoming obstacles. He needs all these inner resources because in Cast Away he goes on a physical and moral journey that few could survive.

Hanks is famous for having an Everyman quality. In Cast Away, that quality is essential for sustaining the tremendous demands of the role (he is alone on screen for over an hour), but Chuck Noland is a Superman, not an Everyman.

Cast Away is divided into four segments, each representing profoundly different challenges and circumstances. In the beginning, Chuck is completely consumed by his very modern life. His job sends him all over the globe. We’re treated to a lively sequence in Red Square. He’s very much in love with his girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) but devoted enough to his success that when he is needed over the Christmas holiday, he goes. He promises Kelly he will be right back, but it isn’t in the cards. A wonderfully staged, absolutely terrifying plane crash ends this first stage of the journey and leaves Chuck marooned on an island.

The next two segments feature only Hanks and his surroundings. Chuck wakes up from the ordeal of the crash to find himself profoundly alone. His confidence in the reach of the modern world keeps him from fully understanding his predicament, at first. He walks along the beach, calling out hellos and picking up the Fed X packages that wash up on the shore and piling them neatly on the beach. Chuck soon realizes he is in a difficult situation where his ability to survive is very much in question.

Cast Away then slows down and changes style to fit Chuck’s new surroundings. The island is beautiful, and with the kind of services that would allow you to sip a rum drink under an umbrella on the beach, it would be paradise. But for Chuck, who has only the very few resources found in the Fed X packages, it is hell. If Chuck weren’t so driven and resourceful, he would never survive. He thinks almost constantly of Kelly, but (thank goodness) we never cut away to her and the world. We stay with Chuck as he learns to survive.

The screen fades to black. When the picture comes back, it is four years later. Chuck is transformed physically and spiritually. He is thin and blond, a skilled fisherman, but a grim character who no longer bothers to cook the fish he spears. He has invented a companion by transforming a volleyball into a totem named Wilson. Chuck talks to Wilson out loud, so we are treated to some of what goes on in Chuck’s head. This is helpful to the audience and also a remarkable demonstration of Hanks’ talent. What actor could make talking to a volleyball not seem ridiculous while still keeping a sense of humor ever present?

One day the tide brings him a scrap that allows him a slim opportunity to escape. That’s all a guy like Chuck needs, and what a pleasure it is to watch him exploit that tiny hope.

In the last segment of Cast Away, Chuck is back in our world. He talks to his friend Stan about the heart of his struggle. He learned to survive physically, and then came the real challenge, finding the will to stay alive psychically and spiritually. His inner transformation is more profound than his physical transformation.

Wilson and faith in Kelly were two of the things that kept him alive. A moment of revelation and a Fed X package that he chose not to open because it was stamped with a beautiful image of a pair of wings were the other things that kept him alive.

If the woman who stamped her wings on the package took out a personal ad, it would include the following: “Independent, honest and true spirit. Artistic. Down to earth. Passion for quiet open spaces. Likes to play with fire.” By the end of Cast Away, she is just the woman for Chuck. All he has to do is turn his truck around. After all the keen instincts we’ve seen in him, it’s a delight to see him given a lovely choice to make.