Forget for one second that Cast Away is one epic big-budget Fed Ex commercial, and you’ll be treated a soaring, ambitious, emotionally exuberant adventure that features some of director Robert Zemeckis and actor Tom Hanks’ best work. The film has an ending that is perhaps a touch too neat and sentimental, but for two-thirds, it’s an incredible cinematic experience, a powerful tribute to the triumph of human spirit, and decidedly un-Hollywood-like in its wordless segments which focus deeply on Hanks surviving in solitude on an island. As can be expected with Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) at the helm, the film is a technical marvel, boasting one of the most harrowing plane crashes ever shot. Hanks, who lost considerable weight for the role, is brilliant and convincing; the unusual friendship he forges with a volleyball builds to a powerful and truly moving climax that’ll bring lumps to your throat.