*The followup-up video is finally here:* th-cam.com/video/DBttgC8fspE/w-d-xo.html Thank you for watching! Below is a list of some of the *genius* contributions from the comment section: *1:* @jonXler pointed out that 8 minutes and 52 seconds into the film there is a sound while Chuck records a message on the answering phone. I think this is the *smoking gun* as it sounds like a 'duck' and my grandfather thinks it sounds like a 'dental drill' 😬 *2:* @_misnoma_ pointed out that the timepiece Kelly gives Chuck is a cheap gift for a broke PHD student at Christmas time (when there's no money from tutoring or lecturing). I want to be *really cynical* and suggest that it's not even a family heirloom; Kelly could have been mistaken but I think she lied because it's a known trivia/goof that it wasn't a railroad pocket watch like Kelly claimed ("My grandaddy used it on the southern pacific"), here's a quote from IMDB: _"This is not a real railroad watch since the specific design was controlled by federal regulations, and would have never been allowed to be used on the job by a railroad crewman..."_ So I think she got the timepiece from a thrift store or maybe the University's lost and found. 😅 *3:* @notsureyou pointed out that the watch only having a photo of Kelly in it - instead of both of them - could be her just wanting him to have something to remember her by, as in "you WERE special to me," "what we HAD was special," etc. or it could also have been a guilty conscience present, i.e. "I do love him, this watch photo present proves it." *4* @ironsoul80 pointed out that Kelly's first scene in the film has her standing next to a 'Caution Radioactive Material' sign - with obvious implications - and that there's a poster with a frog making eye contact with chuck, which could imply the 'Boiling Frog' metaphor. *5:* @thatchap brought up the fact that Kelly attempted to *gaslight* Chuck with "You said you'd be right back" which is definitely a strange thing to say. I think it could be taken a few ways, none of them good, but to me it does seem like an attempt at gaslighting, deflecting responsibility, and/or alleviating her guilt. *6:* @michaeljamesmccabe pointed out that during Chuck's monologue with his friend (Stan) he doesn't say anything and looks uncomfortable the whole time; I think that in itself, a monologue is a monologue for a reason, but also on the plane when Chuck asks _"What in the World am I going to say to her?"_ there is an uncomfortable 4-second-pause before Stan responds. I doubt Stan would have known anything for sure but I think he must have had the same suspicions. *7:* @SkidsIsVFL pointed out that: "Memphis had already had 2 failed pro football franchises and were snubbed for expansion after the Oilers moved to Nashville (where they were renamed to the Titans). So hearing a Memphis native say “We (Tennessee) have a football team, but they’re in Nashville?” echoes the city’s feelings of betrayal and the question is aimed at a woman who cheated on him is chefs kiss beautiful-but kinda niche-subtext." *8:* @JamesCarmichael "You could say that Lovett fed his ex" 💀 *9:* @devlinallistair-zx5by pointed out that there could be an element of 'Hypergamy' to Kelly's hooking up with Lovett. i.e. "She's getting her dissertation, so she needs to be with a doctor." *10:* @timsimmons9995 had another interpretation for 'Kelly' which I think is superior to mine: "Kelly means "strife, war," which is interpreted as conflict, a battle, or a disagreement. We can interpret that as meaning Kelly was in conflict or disagreement with herself, or two men were unknowingly in conflict for her heart, etc." *11:* A small mistake in the video: I refer to the guy at the Christmas table as 'Chuck's friend' when he's actually just Kelly's uncle, which I believe supports my point more as Kelly's family don't want to discuss her past relationships at all and a friend would have probably just told Chuck (bro code), whereas an uncle would probably not get involved. *12:* Another small mistake, the woman I referred to as a 'stewardess' is actually a pilot, my bad. *13:* A point which has occurred to me for anyone looking to defend Kelly is that it's not right for her to kiss Chuck and declare her undying love for him while the man she married and the daughter they're raising are sleeping in their home just out of frame. To put it bluntly, there's no way Kelly was going to be honest with Lovett after this: _"So I kissed Chuck and really I love him but I have to stay in this sham marriage because of our daughter and mortgage and I'm probably going to resent you for the rest of our lives etc."_ We are on Chuck's side as he's the protagonist but what Kelly is doing to Lovett is actually really bad. "Kelly is not an honest woman." *14:* Finally, I want to recommend this incredibly deep video by 'Logos Made Flesh' who sadly has since passed away: th-cam.com/video/ECnvX3oKIMA/w-d-xo.html I hope that you enjoyed the video! Once again, *thank you so much for watching!*
Wow, I’ve been looking at this all wrong for the past 23 years. I don’t know if I’m sad or happy about it. I guess we’ve all some how been through this but didn’t know it. Great work with this video, thanks.
This is so good. I believe all of it. You support your points well. When I saw the movie, I found poignancy and sadness in its ending: a man whose path in life and love was crushed by the downing of the plane, having to start his life all over again. It feels more hopeful now, with a man who has survived and is at the crossroads to the next chapter in his life. A love was never lost. It was never a love story at all. I remember well-known print and TV movie critics saying that the final act of the movie with his adjustment back to civilization and reunion was superfluous and a clumsy add-on. Watching your video, I see how important it was in telling the story of those who went on with their lives in his absence. The visual cues, the dialogue, the acting were not happenstance. From what I've read, Zemeckis was meticulous in his direction, more so than other directors. Another channel, Barely Human, goes in deep into the symbolism and archetypes conveyed in another Zemeckis-directed project: "Back to the Future." There is subtext and deeper meaning in that movie as well.
I agree with this synopsis. I found Kelly's behavior odd. I had a wife cheat on me for a period of time in the 90's, she carried on the double life for awhile for convenience until circumstances allowed for her to leave. Ironically she stated me something along the lines of "the love of her life," along with the ever-so-popular "I love you but I' not in-love with you." The grass wasn't greener and she tried returning, I said no. A girlfriend that I saw the movie with pointed out that Cast Away being two words was odd. I never thought much about this movie, but I believe this guy is correct.
Sometimes people ask me _"why would Kelly cheat though?"_ so I appreciate you sharing this; I think it can be difficult for some people to conceptualize just how *senseless/selfish/callous/etc.* cheating can really be, I mean, some of the stories shared here make Chuck and Bettina's experiences look like cakewalks 😭 (I also think that the nastiest comments are made by _cheaters_ who just resent the censure) 😅💀☕
I like this. Imagine a man who is rejected by the love of his life and finds out she was cheating on him. What does he do? He focuses on himself, improves himself, gets in shape, isolates himself for a while. Then heads back out into the world a changed man with a new outlook.
There's no indication that he did any of those things. What he did was get in his old car (symbolic of still being the same old Chuck) and went on a pilgrimage to return packages (symbolic of him restoring order), and chased after a woman who is represented as a butterfly. Butterflies can represent change, and new life, and chasing butterflies can represent feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied. The woman is also seen wearing a welding hood and welding leathers, which represents a hidden identity, and protecting herself. Her husband was with a lover in Russia, which is symbolic of warmth in a cold world. This suggests that he had to go all the way to Russia to escape the cold of his marriage to a shady woman who protects herself and often conceals her true face. She also looks as the world through a very dark lens, and holds fire in her hands, like the goddess Hestia, goddess of hearth, home, and family. Butterfly woman is never seen in the home, with family or near the home fire, she has rejected these roles, instead is seen in recluse, on a ladder building a large sculpture, symbolic of the tower of Babel, itself a symbolic of expression pride, ego, and arrogance. She works alone on the new tower of Babel. This suggests she is not able to communicate with others. So the same old Chuck is trying to restore order to his life and at the end of his pilgrimage ultimately feels unfulfilled and unsatisfied, and chases after a new woman who's nature is as dubious as the last. So he's not a changed man. He's repeating his folly. Watch out Chuck! Doooon't do it!!
The defining piece of proof. The "office" she set up to help search for him the first year....was in the Dentists house. As soon as he disappeared, she moved in with him.
Wow. That revelation is just an eye-opener. He's not just a 'castaway' on an island. He was 'cast away' by his cheating fiancee. The double-meaning that everyone should realize.
I never liked the Kelly character. The fact that she actually blames him. "You said you'd be right back." Like it's his fault he was in a plane crash and stranded for 4 years on an island. I never thought about her having a previous affair but I did think that time line was rather quick for someone who "always knew you were alive." Within a year and a half she married and moved on.
Exactly! Also how she says "everybody said I had to move on" who's everybody and why do you have to move on? Most of what she says is vague and evasive anyway because her dialogue is written to evoke mistrust, as is Helen Hunt's acting, i.e. looking like she was about to have a panic attack when Chuck said "let me get one thing straight here." 😨 I expand on these thoughts in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) 🙂
@@macrofunction Except, you can probably understand the conflicting emotions, confusion and shock Kelly must have felt when Chuck shows up at the door after long being given up for dead. This scene requires empathy for the position Kelly was in where the viewer might try to put themselves in her shoes. Her and Chuck's story was unfinished.
I admit I missed quite a bit. But the fact that Chuck really wasn`t gone that long, and his woman had already married some other guy and had a child by him, a child who was already two years old, indicated to me there was something funny going on with the woman.
women age faster, their biological clock runs out a lot faster than a mans. Women age like milk, men age like wine. Women just have that biological survival trait that helps them move on quicker.
@@hemlo7494 The baby looks about one year old. 4 years is a long time. It doesnt seem out of place. One hard year of grieving, then reluctantly moving forward, what choice did she have?
A lot can change in 4 years, granted, but I always found it odd (and irritating and contrived) that she managed in that span of time to do all of the following: give up on the idea of him being alive, get over him and grieve, re-enter the dating scene, find a new person and fall in love, get engaged, get married, get pregnant, give birth and then have the baby be at least several months old by the time he returned.
Depends on the person, if she was already cheating like the video suggests, it was probably a matter of weeks or months before she moved in with her secret lover.
I was having this exact same argument for 20 years with everyone I knew who saw this movie. Details masquerading as banal conversation. The subtle subtext. The child's age was an obvious red flag, though the final nail which sealed it for me was when Kelly ran to Chuck to kiss and embrace him in the rain. Knowing she has a home with a husband and child sleeping inside, and chooses to run from it to kiss and hold a man from her past boldly displays Kelly's lack of impulse control. When Chuck returned the watch to Kelly, he told her that it didn't work, as in hindsight of his relationship. He said to her that he kept the picture, and that "it was faded anyway," much like their bond. He never said to Kelly that it was her who kept him alive on the island. He did declare this to Bettina in a note he left for her, as it was Bettina who gave him the "wings" to escape the island. By chance, Chuck came across her on the intersection at the right time much like by chance he came across her package and her wings. Good to see someone else picked up on the subtleties of the subtext, as people thought I was overanalysing. 😂
As usual people don't know what they're talking about because your analysis is great! 😅 What you said about Chuck telling Bettina but not telling Kelly nothing is actually why I chose to end my video on "I love you too, Kelly, more than you'll ever know." because, knowing what we know, hearing Chuck say that line is like hearing a dagger. Great stuff! 😁
@@lauraarmstrong3168 Absolutely. The film may have ended differently if _Mr Big_ hadn't of been there to mark his territory 😬 In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I also theorized how different it would have been if Lovett opened the door instead of Kelly when Chuck went to see her at night 😅
Chuck went back to visit with Bettina after she left him at the crossroads. With that last look she gave him, who wouldn't! She was in the barn getting ready to do some work. She invited him to join her in having a cool iced tea. Chuck explained to her all that had happened and how that package sustained his faith that he would return home from the island. This was better than any therapy he could ever have. She was kind and listened with her heart. It wasn't his intent to find love, but rather to find himself and a path forward. Delivering that package, was the key to that journey. Eventually they would fall in love and live happily ever after, but it took a lot of time for her to learn to trust again and for him to open his heart to her after losing Kelly. Bettina added Chuck's name to the arched entry to her land. They named their first child Wilson!
Is anyone familiar with the spoof done by I believe Mad TV many years ago, when after he's saved, Hank's character is delivering the final package he had on the island with him, to the rightful owners , and they open it in front of him and it's a Survival Kit with fishing gear, flint, flares, tent, etc.? Lmao, genius.
Way back in 1981 I wrote a paper based on the thesis that Star Wars was not about the Jedi, Darth Vader or the fall of the empire. People can't relate to that because it is too distant and out of our experience. My thesis was that Star Wars about the redemption of Adaken by his son Luke fighting his father's sins to redeem his father's fall into darkness. We, as regular people, can relate to a son fighting to save his father from his father's own sins. (It sounds like a Shakespeare play actually.) My teacher did not believe it and gave me a C+ because he could see the time, I put into it and there were no grammar or spelling errors either. Flash forward to the 90's and the trilogy comes out on a VHS tape set with an interview with Lucas at the very beginning of the first movie. Lucas says, 'the movie is not about the Jedi, the Sith or the Empire but about a son seeking redemption for his father." I went back to my old high school to show it to my ex-teacher and to tell him that even back then, the student(me) had surpassed his instructor(him). Sometimes, a big story just hides the really small plot of the actual story.
"When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master." Your comment made my day! I love the idea of an _I told you so_ a decade in the making and the catharsis that must have come with it 😁 A+
It's the big PLOT disguising the STORY. Plot is what happens to the characters and the circumstances they're in. The story is about their personal "journey" to redemption, self discovery, atonement, or whatever it is.
What a great video. Having watched this movie a number of times, it always bothered me how Kelly acted so much in love and believed Chuck to be alive, and yet, moved on seemingly quickly and easily. Now it makes much more sense!
@@Daniela-vo4hi Not quickly or easily. She is not totally settled in her marriage. She dropped her dissertation which was only weeks away from his crash. Her life turned upside down. Imagine your loved one going missing and presumed dead and no concrete proof that they're dead. Your mind plays tricks on you. Everyone telling you to move on. What choice is there? 4 years is not an unreasonable timeframe.
Yeah, you're right. I lost a tooth due to not going to the dentist earlier, when I made an appointment I never got there because of Covid lockdowns...by the time I did make it the tooth had died and I'd put up with a lot of pain.
He 100% cared more about delivering the package with the wings on it than he did about getting back to Kelly. So that furthers your theory. Her art and his dedication saved his life, not the desire to return to Kelly. He ended up where he needed to be, not where he wanted to be. In the end, he ended up with the lady that was also cheated on in the beginning.
I never understood why Kelly wouldn’t come to see him. I wouldn’t expect my girlfriend to wait forever if I went missing. But to act like you don’t even care they survived is just inhuman. But the fear of being caught being a cheater makes some sense.
Just an obscure thought....Chuck wasn't truly "Cast Away" until after he was rescued. The life he knew and the people in it (at least the version of those people at that time) no longer exist. He came "home" only to be a stranger in his own life.
The thought of returning to Kelly kept Chuck alive and led him back to civilization. The fact that he could not be with her after returning just allowed him to move on towards his destiny with the gal from Texas. I think Chuck did OK in the end.
Honestly, there is something extremely Irish (thus extremely accurate) about this psychoanalytic deconstruction of the film. Further evidenced by the fact that the screenwriter, William Broyles Jr., uses female unfaithfulness and/or male alienation as a consistent theme in all of his movies: Unfaithful (literally), Jarhead (overseas tour + cheating gf), Apollo 13 (Hanks sent to space + wife symbolically drops her wedding ring down a shower drain). Not to mention the 'coincidental' partnership of Hank + Zemeckis, who created Forrest Gump's Jenny and definitely had a say in Cast Away's character development. Subconscious or intentional, I think these guys are fixated on the topic of the heroically tragic man and the invariably unfaithful woman. Bravo 👍
Interesting view. I saw a man who was unable to commit, put work way way ahead of his relationship and then when shit went sideways he regretted it and realized he had taken her for granted. Meanwhile back in Tennessee, when Chuck was declared dead they held a wake where the dental surgeon showed up and manipulated her using her grief and guilt over not trying harder to stop Chuck from getting on the plane. But honestly, she was just tired of never coming first. Through the guilt and self-doubt he was able to force a Trad wife lifestyle on her, but by the time Chuck made it back, it was too late for her- she had nothing but regret but now that she had a baby, it was that life she had to live. Meanwhile, Chuck who had been inspired by the angel wings design while on the island left to give the package back to the sender and to tell the sender that it was partly that art that kept him going and to thank them. Then they end the movie with the notion that this might be a redemptive relationship for him as he is no longer afraid to commit and no longer addicted to a corporate-dictated lifestyle. I don't think Kelly nor Chuck cheated as Chuck was declared dead, so it was just a tragedy all around. The point wasn't that there was cheating, it was that there are moments in life where the choices we make are permanent and you can't take it back, and all you can do is survive and keep moving forward. That is my take on it anyway. Which is the cool thing about art really.
I appreciated reading your interpretation, but at this point I think that Kelly's betrayal is not _open to interpretation_ anymore, because the protagonist is named 'Chuck' (i.e. to throw careless) and the film is titled 'Cast Away' (i.e. chucked away), so it's firmly rooted into the subtext. The case is made further in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) if you're interested 😬
@@2dawgsmiked684 LOL no hun... not all men... the ones that seem to come out of nowhere to take advantage of a woman grieving the loss of her husband/fiance/boyfriend. Prior military showed me just how bad it is when one of the soldiers lost his life... it was like the spouse was now fair game and they would banter about tagging her first.
@@ExtraCheeseProject You are so refreshing! I love chatting with people like this. Interestingly, the term "to chuck" comes from old french -chuquer- to throw or knock, while the name Chuck from germanic chukken means "Free Man"... while Kelly has a couple of meanings- most commonly it means Strife or Tool. So, I think your point is made on that aspect because if you put both those meanings of Chuck together plus the name Kelly considering she was used by the dental jerk and experienced strife because of it, combined with the move title... pretty good points! A++
@@Saiya4779 Interesting, I went with 'bright-headed' - in the follow-up video, but I completely missed the 'strife' definition and your excellent interpretation! 😬 It's so great because the subtext in the third act is setting up a lot of strife between Kelly and Lovett for after the credits roll; wonderful analysis 💯
Im sorry but kelly was trash. She married his dentist (not cool) Then had a baby for him. (WTF!!!) Then she gave up on her career. (Whaaaaat?) Then she was ready to abandon her whole new family in a blink of an eye if he didnt tell her to "Go Home" OH, and she did all that in 4 years... Kelly was the villain of the film.
I love the analysis...you suggest that "his entire experience is surrogate for Kelly's betrayal..." I think I would go one step further and say the story was metaphor for what he actually went through. The pain of being betrayed and eventually having to extract the pain from yourself..., the feeling of abandonment and feeling alone becasue society makes us put on the "good face" at such times...an on and on until he finally wakes up from the nightmare, physically he never was "cast away" on an island he was right there stumbling through his life the whole time; but becasue his mind was so caught up on his abandonment and pain years of his life has passed him by. Not something easily recognized except by those who have lived it themselves.
Never did I think she was unfaithful, but I thought it was strange that she was afraid to marry Chuck, but was married with kids only 4 years after his disappearence.
Exactly _"What happened to you becoming a professor, you're not Dr Kelly Frears-Lovett?"_ In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I theorize that a combination of financial troubles and an unexpected pregnancy forced Lovett and Kelly together 😬
Well it’s not uncommon. Especially considering she lost him she got a bit panic and decided to be quicker now to not loose “the next guy”. It’s actually a very common phenomenon.
Thank you so much for the support! This is such a big help right now and so encouraging! 🤯 It's funny you say that because my grandad had a tooth removed a couple of weeks ago and I said I'd put on Cast Away for him 💀 I'm planning a Part 2 followup to this video hopefully out in a month 😀
I remember disliking Kelly in the film even though I knew it was perfectly rational to move on after someone is believed lost at sea, or otherwise presumed dead. That makes logical sense. There was still this... something. I couldn't put my finger on it. She seemed emotionally distant, like she just wasn't invested. I wrote it off as bad acting for the longest time, just the actress phoning it in on an otherwise great film. Now? This all makes perfect sense.
I always questioned the timeline after the plane crash. She goes from getting the engagement ring to grieving, recovering, starts dating, has a courtship, falls in love, gets engaged again, getting married and having two kids, all in 4 years. (Or maybe it was one kid? I don't remember).
I still feel so sad for Chuck overall. After everything he went through to get home, he realized too late that the life he knew was NEVER going to be there for him to go back to. Even if Kelly had been faithful all along, he'd returned to her, and they lived happily ever after, those five years still would have changed everything. They wouldn't be the same people anymore, couldn't get that time back, and the memories of Chuck's experiences on the island would never fully leave him. In a way, the man she knew from back then did die on that speck of land. It felt like such existential cruelty for this man to not only see his loved ones move on without him but have to accept that his desire to see Kelly again had served its purpose. That motivation was useful when it gave him the strength of will to survive & persevere through every obstacle thrown at him. He wouldn't have made it as far as he did, were he only motivated to get back for his own sake. Chuck all but admits this while recounting his failed s*icide attempt on the island. Kelly was his drive to decide that he'd go on. But once he was back, only to see that he'd "lost her all over again", the determination that had sustained him throughout those years was now useless. Kelly was right in front of him, but distance was no longer the issue at hand. This was one obstacle he couldn't overcome like the others on the island or at sea, something that no amount of strength could push through. Chuck had a major decision now: Disrupt Kelly's new life, break up her family, and try to salvage something that simply wasn't there anymore. Or, finally let go of the woman whose memory kept him going and cast away this chapter of his life just as she'd cast him away long ago. Let it all go and enter the greatest challenge of all: Starting over. THAT'S the scariest mountain Chuck could endeavor to climb after all of this, the idea of rebuilding his life from essentially scratch. Thankfully, the movie doesn't leave us on some nihilistic note of him despairing and finishing what he failed to do on the island. At that crossroads (serving as a not-so-subtle metaphor), Chuck is unsure what to do next until the interaction with a beautiful stranger reminds him that there is still beauty in this life worth pursuing. He can fall in love again. He can build new bonds (work, home, relationships, etc.). Chuck initially set out on this journey simply because he had to "keep breathing", to "see what the tide will bring". But now, he has more than just that as a reason to move forward. He's left with a renewed sense of something he may have feared he'd lost forever... HOPE.
A side note; In the beginning of the movie, they pan over pictures of Chuck and Kelly. They are shown having fun on sail boats, we see Chuck's sailing certification and a few trophies. So, Kelly is well aware that Chuck can navigate and captain a sail boat, and is possibly stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean. All the more crushing that she cast him away. Also in the beginning of the film, Kelly is never home and is never shown (or heard) returning any of his messages.
When I saw this in the theater, in real time I knew there was something wrong with Kelly's timeline ... Chuck's disappearance, how long searching would have taken, then Kelly's marriage and child ... and I knew that Chuck figured it out there in the kitchen and chickened out of confronting her. However, I never put together the clues that this is the underlying theme of the entire movie. Good stuff!!
I always found the timeline odd of this movie. He was on the island 4 years. In that time his wife got remarried to their dentist and already had a kid who appeared to be young but not a newborn. She didn’t spend much time grieving that’s for sure!
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the comments -- the guy she was (probably) cheating with was Chuck's dentist. Chuck mentioned he was having dental issues when he was briefly home at Christmas. She pushed him out the door onto the fateful flight because she didn't want him to visit that dentist, fearing her cheating might be revealed somehow. His stranding was a consequence of her trying to hide the cheating.
I really like your idea! A caveat: 'Spalding' is Chuck's personal dentist whereas 'Lovett' was apparently a random outcall _endodontist_ or oral surgeon for a one-off root canal (a fact which makes it beyond unlikely that Kelly just happened to meet him of all people after Chuck's disappearance). That said, the concept still has merit, as it's likely that Spalding would refer Chuck to the same _endodontist_ for another root canal 😃 Unfortunately, it's too late to add this to the followup video, so I'll pin it in a comment when it's out 💯
@@tech9803 It wasn't up to Kelly to forbid Chuck from getting on that plane. Chuck was a grown man and married to his work. Kelly was probably resigned to his travel schedule at this point. She had misgivings and he was trying to hold on to her. I think they were both headed for a breakup upon his planned return at New Years.
You know what doesnt make sense is the dentist saying "you probably dont remember me". If anything the dentist would not remember Chuck as he was one of many root canals performed. For Chuck the root canal was probably significant.
This is an excellent point! A dentist in the comments made a similar argument a while ago and then it was backed up by another dentist's comment recently. It's a small point, but the small points become huge with context, so I'm going to make a short-form video to outline this 👏
This makes so much more sense now. I absolutely hated that movie on a visceral level, but consciously couldn't come up with a reason I felt it was so horrible when everyone was raving about it. So in the background, my subconscious caught all of those clues, but I never quite put it together.
Most interesting study. And, like it or not, the film has all necessary supporting elements to this hypothesis. Following the same line of thinking, ending up marooned in that island actually saved Chuck from either (a) a heartbreaking dump by Kelly (who according to this theory will drop him like a lead jacket as soon as she performed her title defense dissertation); or, (b) a doomed marriage since following the same logic, if Kelly failed to gain the resolve and moral fortitude to do the right thing and end their relationship, she most likely would have ended up marrying him, not out of love but out of convenience since he was the sound financial logical choice over a dentist, being a regional Exec Manager for FedEx in Eastern Europe already. Yet, it is unlikely she would have the decency to break her established cheating cycle and very likely would have continued her duplicitous liaison. Hence, his forced staying in the island may have actually saved him: penitentiaries... and graveyards are chock-full of betrayed husbands. Definitely, it's a most interesting analysis.
I thought this was obvious ... 🤔 Kelly is living in the future , as is Chuck . Until Chuck is forced to live in the moment , via survival . They would have never married . The " crossroads " bring Chuck to his future wife Bettina . Bettina was also on the island with Chuck . Represented by the unopened package , he saved to deliver in person . Two cast always , who survived and found one another .
The plot of the movie is don't take life for granted, One day everythings great money love friends and next day your alone standing at the crossroads wondering which way to go as shown at the end of the movie
Chuck wasn't taking his life for granted though: in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I point out that he was actually working hard to provide for the family he thought he was going to have with Kelly - he did propose to her in the first act, but she was terrified of this and did _nothing_ to stop him from leaving on Christmas - so, she was the person taking her life for granted.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectI think Kelly by then had given up on any predictable, stable home life with Chuck, and accepted he would always be leaving, ruining holidays due to his work. How could she stop him? He was married to his work. His proposal was pathetic, I'd feel ambivalent about it too.
@@lauraarmstrong3168 On the other hand, Kelly was in the final stages of her PhD and wouldn't have had any time for Chuck either, I know from experience 😬
One of those "wow, how did I not notice that" moments. New twist on a film I've watched countless times. So busy watching his struggles, I didn't think past her finding out he was dead and moving on as easily as most women seem capable of doing.
Well done. This certainly explains why it was much sadder when he lost Wilson than when he lost Helen Hunt. He had a better relationship with a volleyball than his girlfriend.
"Kelly had to let you go" but she still has maps and search charts all over the dining room table. This is a woman with commitment issues. I thought I was the only one who saw the inconsistancies of Kelly's moving on.
You're spot on! Also, Lovett tells Chuck that Kelly has been "lost" since he returned, because now she's thinking about the finished PHD she had to leave on the shelf; suddenly she sees a possible 'escape route' to the life she actually wanted, i.e. becoming a professor 😬
Taking this into account, it makes Chuck's interaction with his "guardian angel" that much more poetic and completes the character foil these two share: Both are passionate at what they do, both have been cheated on, both are stranded alone with a companion in a "desert island" and both make their way to each other. Also of note, it wasn't really Kelly that helped him survive, but his desire to deliver that package to this "guardian angel".
Guardian angel! This is perfect. After the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I've been -working on- struggling with the script for a third video and your awesome contribution just gave me a breakthrough 🙏 Thank you so much for the great feedback! 😃
@@ExtraCheeseProject Happy to see someone not fixated on the whole "not enough time" concept. Movie is too good to be pigeon holed into one area of significance.
@@ExtraCheeseProject I forgot to mention something that Logos Made Flesh said that made me realize something in terms of the whole "Cheatin Kelly" arc. For starters, if we apply the "Divine intervention" Chuck gets when getting off the island, we can even go further than that. In truth, Chuck is actually freed of his relationship with Kelly through divine intervention. By getting marooned on an island, he is forced into a break up and is saved from an even more embarrassing betrayal had it gone public. Then he is directed to a better partner who will love him.
@@JODA93 I like this interpretation a lot! Another commenter said something like _"Chuck survived the island, he could handle that, but he would have never survived finding out Kelly's betrayal"_ and this concept is definitely fuel for the follow-up video, thanks again! 😃
@@ExtraCheeseProject that's actually pretty good. One script revision gave that impression. When the phone went to voicemail it said that that was what Chuck "didn't want to hear". He was already in denial.
I always pride myself that I can catch things in movies but this flew over my head… What sealed it was the timeline and when Tom hanks character looked at the fridge and saw the kid noticed the age then added 9 months to that, then put the rest together…. Wow just wow
Nice work. Most of us kept waiting for the movie to begin. We thought it finally got going on the island. How easily we forget that the movie began at the beginning!
So basically, the whole island thing is a metaphor. He was betrayed, he felt completely cut off from the world, lost, unable to pick himself up, isolated... and then he finally decides to get out of his madness, sets himself off to the world, and faces her after all that time. She kept their car, which had "a lot of good memories", and he takes that car, all those memories, and sets himself free. The other woman at the end, was only conceptualized on that island, during the isolation, and she didn't have a shape, but she was pure, thus the angel wings as a metaphor. And he finds that woman in the end at that crossroads. It is basically a story of a man who was lost and picked himself up, and found himself again.
I love this rundown 😮 Your insights about the car being totemic for the relationship's good memories - and Bettina's _formless/angelic_ nature - are incredibly perceptive and it's a shame I can't go back and include them in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) 😬
Definitely, it happens again in the scene with the Jeep when Kelly lowkey gaslighted him "You said you'd be right back" and Chuck said "I'm so sorry" there's a five second gap between these lines where Kelly's face drops like _"omg he's gonna call me out this time for sure"_ 😅 Great directing 👏
@@ExtraCheeseProject another thing not mentioned is that he talked about his dentist james spaulding, to wilson.. there is a theme of dentists. If notice at the end, betina had "cast away" the husband's name at the half of her sign overlooking the ranch. This would suggest both were cast away and would come together as one. Excellent takeaway from this you did.
@@spaghetti9845 Both excellent points, there's a followup video in the works which will cover this topic in depth, including a lot of the genius contributions I've had from the comments 😃 Thank you so much for the feedback and the insights!
I've always thought it was a commentary on how sketchy oral surgeons are, that they're not to be trusted, and can easily be replaced by a figure skate and a rock. With nothing more than a volleyball in attendance.
Even when I was a kid I noticed that when Kelly looked at him while making photocopies… it wasn’t a look of love and longing. It was a look of disappointment
Agreed! 👏 In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I pointed out that she's also introduced with her back to Chuck and the audience and - as another commenter pointed out - she's standing next to a 'Caution: Radioactive Material' sign ☢
She didn't just "meet a new guy and move on quickly". She "coincidentally" met and married a man who "happened" to be Hanks' dental surgeon? If it had just been some random new guy that Kelly met, that's one thing. But she met and married Hanks' doctor. Note that it wasn't Hanks' friend or relative who would have been in a position to join Kelley in her mourning over losing Hanks which could have led to their new-found relationship. It was Hanks' doctor. The coincidence is too much and supports the previous affair theory.
Wow. It just makes you really appreciate just how well acted this movie is. I mean now that you point it out the friend that asked when he would make an honest woman out of her had his true feeling all over his face......And the scene in the house when he connected thr time line and said "let me get this straight... " The fear on her face and the realization on his, i loved this movie and totally missed all of this.
Wow, you peeled away the onion for me. So much you revealed that I missed when watching this movie. The image Chuck had of Kelly kept him alive on the island, but it was a false image. What an amazing turn of events.
I listened to a Hanoi Hilton’s account, and the memory of his wife kept him alive for 7 years, not knowing whether he was alive or not, 6 years in his wife finally moved on and remarried.
I never put all the pieces together, but I always recognized that the film's title was not castaway, a noun, but _Cast Away,_ a verb. I think he nailed it perfectly. Helen Hunt had a knack for playing cute, perky, but deeply flawed women..
The thing that made it clear is when he said, “Let’s get one thing straight here,” then went on to talk about the football team, while she looked scared crap less.
Absolutely! 💯 A commenter made a brilliant contribution which I covered in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment): basically the NFL _betrayed_ Memphis when they put the Titans in Nashville, so even Chuck's alternative question still concerns betrayal (it's explained better in the video) 😅
I liked Cast Away enough I bought it on dvd, but after having been cheated on a couple times, I found myself just unable to watch it again, like my subconscious mind just knew she was a cheating cheater who cheated on chuck the whole time. Makes sense.
Would have been a nice paycheck to come home to, Plus finding out you don't have to share it and he got his truck back.. it's like a country song from an alternate universe.
Being 61 I have been in bad relationships . It's hard to believe that the woman you love is a cheating liar even though the signs are there. No one told me and then said I surely knew. I left 2 days after finding out my 6 year old wasn't biologically related to me. 15 years 10 married I was still in love. Like a death of someone close.
I understand, 57 and only bad relationships with the wrong women for the wrong reason. But, boy have I had fun! Remember from here on out women outnumber men, a good time to not be tied down. Sorry about the child not being yours.
I don’t get people who cheat, if you’re not happy in your relationship talk to the person you’re involved with see if there’s a compromise if not move on and find someone who is worth your love and time, but don’t devalue yourself by becoming a cheater.
because they are animals who use people for their benefit, like a con artist. Usually lack empathy from their amygdala being wired fucked up at an early age.
Exactly! In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I concluded that Kelly and Lovett were bad people whose punishment was being stuck with each other, while Chuck and Bettina were good people and their reward was finally meeting each other 😃
Rewatching this film shortly after my wife left me, it really did seem like a cheating /breakup movie. The slow burn relationship abrubtly ending in flames. The feeling of total abandomrnt, and isolation. All of the stuggles just to make it through one more day. And the final acceptance of fact. And of course in the end, the ''now what?'' moment.
Hang in there. I know it sounds dumb, but make sure you’re getting some kind of exercise every day, even if it’s just going for a walk. This is crucial to keeping you sane.
I feel ya, buddy. I once lost a very long-term relationship to an incredibly intelligent woman who used me spiritually and psychologically and then threw me away when I no longer suited her purposes. Such is life. Learn from the experience. Do not allow it to embitter you. Become more.
@@VictoryAviation For sure. I stopped drinking for months, bought a heavy bag and worked out twice a day, And yes, it was a big help. This was 5 yrs ago. Your advice is sound.
I felt that the true love relationship in the movie was between Chuck and Wilson, but Wilson needed to sacrifice their relationship so Chuck could move on - there's no way Wilson would be able to handle the amount of betrayal his beloved Chuck was going to face. Wilson was the best actor in the whole movie, and deserved a sequel - Wilson the martyr for love, adrift on the high seas, looking for permanence, home, the meaning of life - and an air compressor.
Absolutely! In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I mentioned that she was introduced with her back to both Chuck and the audience, which - in cinematic language - illustrates her _cold shoulder_ and uncaring nature 😬
Same, perhaps that's why I've only watched the movie a handful of times. The themes of betrayal & forgotten about by the people who we thought loved us hits hard.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectI thought the way Chuck humiliated Kelly in front of the entire family dinner by mocking her failed first marriage indicated a cold, passive-aggressive streak in Chuck. And giving her a pager demonstrated a tendency to try to control. His first love was his work. Kelly would always be #2 in his life, but for the time he was on the Island, she literally gave him the strength and determination to survive.
"She had to live with the choices she made." Isn't that the biggest problem we face? No one thinks that they have to live with the consequences of their actions. You get one life. You live it but you also write pages in your book that cannot be erased or undone.
Tell that to religious Christians...they have eternal life and forgiveness from the lord ...oh and because they say so and you will burn in hell if you doubt ...🙄 if only they could recognize once they die that it's all BS one wouldn't mind as much when any religious nut preaches...unfortunately just like a reverse birth once one is dead you don't know or realize it after . That's why it's OK to remind them it's all a pike of crap while they are still around ..maybe they can live the only life they do have realizing how much more precious knowing it's the only life they do have ...the ones that say it's only God that keeps them from raping and killing.. well then remember santa clause won't bring naughty people presents either 😏🙄
"Instead of thinking about her family - who she had a life with for 70 years - Rosa remembers some guy she had a fling with on a ferry." Also, she threw away the priceless necklace instead of leaving it for her descendants, donating it to a museum, or even just selling it for charity 🙄 I class Titanic (1997) alongside Pearl Harbor (2001) as worthless movies which shouldn't have included real world historical catastrophes. I'd go as far to say that these two films existing cheapens our shared human story.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectAmen. I would argue that Cameron shot his shot with The Terminator and just been preaching his worldview at us very expensively ever since. Why not give the millions of dollars that went into making two Avatar films to planting trees and to help make reparations to indigenous peoples somewhere, since that’s the real reason he made those flicks. Sorry for the rant, I’m just sick of Cameron’s “thing”.
I am ashamed to admit that I missed from this movie any peripheral understanding that is presented here. I mistakenly thought that the movie was about two people incredibly in love, separated, and a man’s incredible survival quest.
@@ExtraCheeseProject Thank you! Your interesting take on this movie, and the connections between the other works is what inspired my wisecrack. Not everybody gets my humor.
I like that fact that you focused on the little things people miss when seeing the truth is just too painful for them, good on you boyo, that was right brilliant by the end. I lost it laughing on your montage in the kitchen lol so good. Keep up the good work brother!
*The followup-up video is finally here:* th-cam.com/video/DBttgC8fspE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for watching! Below is a list of some of the *genius* contributions from the comment section:
*1:* @jonXler pointed out that 8 minutes and 52 seconds into the film there is a sound while Chuck records a message on the answering phone. I think this is the *smoking gun* as it sounds like a 'duck' and my grandfather thinks it sounds like a 'dental drill' 😬
*2:* @_misnoma_ pointed out that the timepiece Kelly gives Chuck is a cheap gift for a broke PHD student at Christmas time (when there's no money from tutoring or lecturing). I want to be *really cynical* and suggest that it's not even a family heirloom; Kelly could have been mistaken but I think she lied because it's a known trivia/goof that it wasn't a railroad pocket watch like Kelly claimed ("My grandaddy used it on the southern pacific"), here's a quote from IMDB:
_"This is not a real railroad watch since the specific design was controlled by federal regulations, and would have never been allowed to be used on the job by a railroad crewman..."_
So I think she got the timepiece from a thrift store or maybe the University's lost and found. 😅
*3:* @notsureyou pointed out that the watch only having a photo of Kelly in it - instead of both of them - could be her just wanting him to have something to remember her by, as in "you WERE special to me," "what we HAD was special," etc. or it could also have been a guilty conscience present, i.e. "I do love him, this watch photo present proves it."
*4* @ironsoul80 pointed out that Kelly's first scene in the film has her standing next to a 'Caution Radioactive Material' sign - with obvious implications - and that there's a poster with a frog making eye contact with chuck, which could imply the 'Boiling Frog' metaphor.
*5:* @thatchap brought up the fact that Kelly attempted to *gaslight* Chuck with "You said you'd be right back" which is definitely a strange thing to say. I think it could be taken a few ways, none of them good, but to me it does seem like an attempt at gaslighting, deflecting responsibility, and/or alleviating her guilt.
*6:* @michaeljamesmccabe pointed out that during Chuck's monologue with his friend (Stan) he doesn't say anything and looks uncomfortable the whole time; I think that in itself, a monologue is a monologue for a reason, but also on the plane when Chuck asks _"What in the World am I going to say to her?"_ there is an uncomfortable 4-second-pause before Stan responds. I doubt Stan would have known anything for sure but I think he must have had the same suspicions.
*7:* @SkidsIsVFL pointed out that:
"Memphis had already had 2 failed pro football franchises and were snubbed for expansion after the Oilers moved to Nashville (where they were renamed to the Titans). So hearing a Memphis native say “We (Tennessee) have a football team, but they’re in Nashville?” echoes the city’s feelings of betrayal and the question is aimed at a woman who cheated on him is chefs kiss beautiful-but kinda niche-subtext."
*8:* @JamesCarmichael "You could say that Lovett fed his ex" 💀
*9:* @devlinallistair-zx5by pointed out that there could be an element of 'Hypergamy' to Kelly's hooking up with Lovett. i.e. "She's getting her dissertation, so she needs to be with a doctor."
*10:* @timsimmons9995 had another interpretation for 'Kelly' which I think is superior to mine: "Kelly means "strife, war," which is interpreted as conflict, a battle, or a disagreement. We can interpret that as meaning Kelly was in conflict or disagreement with herself, or two men were unknowingly in conflict for her heart, etc."
*11:* A small mistake in the video: I refer to the guy at the Christmas table as 'Chuck's friend' when he's actually just Kelly's uncle, which I believe supports my point more as Kelly's family don't want to discuss her past relationships at all and a friend would have probably just told Chuck (bro code), whereas an uncle would probably not get involved.
*12:* Another small mistake, the woman I referred to as a 'stewardess' is actually a pilot, my bad.
*13:* A point which has occurred to me for anyone looking to defend Kelly is that it's not right for her to kiss Chuck and declare her undying love for him while the man she married and the daughter they're raising are sleeping in their home just out of frame. To put it bluntly, there's no way Kelly was going to be honest with Lovett after this:
_"So I kissed Chuck and really I love him but I have to stay in this sham marriage because of our daughter and mortgage and I'm probably going to resent you for the rest of our lives etc."_
We are on Chuck's side as he's the protagonist but what Kelly is doing to Lovett is actually really bad. "Kelly is not an honest woman."
*14:* Finally, I want to recommend this incredibly deep video by 'Logos Made Flesh' who sadly has since passed away: th-cam.com/video/ECnvX3oKIMA/w-d-xo.html
I hope that you enjoyed the video! Once again, *thank you so much for watching!*
It seems like almost every time he takes out the watch to look at her picture, he pushes it away. I always wondered if that meant something.
I always thought she was a bit snide, never ever really trusted her character. this puts it all in perspective and makes so much sense.
Wow, I’ve been looking at this all wrong for the past 23 years. I don’t know if I’m sad or happy about it. I guess we’ve all some how been through this but didn’t know it. Great work with this video, thanks.
Brilliant. All of it, Brilliant. 🤯
This is so good. I believe all of it. You support your points well. When I saw the movie, I found poignancy and sadness in its ending: a man whose path in life and love was crushed by the downing of the plane, having to start his life all over again. It feels more hopeful now, with a man who has survived and is at the crossroads to the next chapter in his life. A love was never lost. It was never a love story at all.
I remember well-known print and TV movie critics saying that the final act of the movie with his adjustment back to civilization and reunion was superfluous and a clumsy add-on. Watching your video, I see how important it was in telling the story of those who went on with their lives in his absence.
The visual cues, the dialogue, the acting were not happenstance. From what I've read, Zemeckis was meticulous in his direction, more so than other directors. Another channel, Barely Human, goes in deep into the symbolism and archetypes conveyed in another Zemeckis-directed project: "Back to the Future." There is subtext and deeper meaning in that movie as well.
I agree with this synopsis. I found Kelly's behavior odd. I had a wife cheat on me for a period of time in the 90's, she carried on the double life for awhile for convenience until circumstances allowed for her to leave. Ironically she stated me something along the lines of "the love of her life," along with the ever-so-popular "I love you but I' not in-love with you." The grass wasn't greener and she tried returning, I said no. A girlfriend that I saw the movie with pointed out that Cast Away being two words was odd. I never thought much about this movie, but I believe this guy is correct.
Sometimes people ask me _"why would Kelly cheat though?"_ so I appreciate you sharing this; I think it can be difficult for some people to conceptualize just how *senseless/selfish/callous/etc.* cheating can really be, I mean, some of the stories shared here make Chuck and Bettina's experiences look like cakewalks 😭
(I also think that the nastiest comments are made by _cheaters_ who just resent the censure) 😅💀☕
@@mcmlxv9827 I'm glad you had the strength to tell her no
I like this. Imagine a man who is rejected by the love of his life and finds out she was cheating on him. What does he do? He focuses on himself, improves himself, gets in shape, isolates himself for a while. Then heads back out into the world a changed man with a new outlook.
Let's hope this man, real or imagined is never foolish enough to get married
He did play the world's first simp in forrest gump and still didn't learn so he had it coming
Exactly what I did after my divorce in 2005.
There's no indication that he did any of those things.
What he did was get in his old car (symbolic of still being the same old Chuck) and went on a pilgrimage to return packages (symbolic of him restoring order), and chased after a woman who is represented as a butterfly.
Butterflies can represent change, and new life, and chasing butterflies can represent feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied.
The woman is also seen wearing a welding hood and welding leathers, which represents a hidden identity, and protecting herself.
Her husband was with a lover in Russia, which is symbolic of warmth in a cold world.
This suggests that he had to go all the way to Russia to escape the cold of his marriage to a shady woman who protects herself and often conceals her true face. She also looks as the world through a very dark lens, and holds fire in her hands, like the goddess Hestia, goddess of hearth, home, and family.
Butterfly woman is never seen in the home, with family or near the home fire, she has rejected these roles, instead is seen in recluse, on a ladder building a large sculpture, symbolic of the tower of Babel, itself a symbolic of expression pride, ego, and arrogance.
She works alone on the new tower of Babel. This suggests she is not able to communicate with others.
So the same old Chuck is trying to restore order to his life and at the end of his pilgrimage ultimately feels unfulfilled and unsatisfied, and chases after a new woman who's nature is as dubious as the last.
So he's not a changed man. He's repeating his folly.
Watch out Chuck! Doooon't do it!!
@@AZ-kr6ff and NEVER get Married Gentlmen!!!!
The defining piece of proof.
The "office" she set up to help search for him the first year....was in the Dentists house.
As soon as he disappeared, she moved in with him.
I can't read this without hearing it in David Letterman's voice 🤣
@@glennchartrand5411 Chuck was missing 4 years. The baby is only one year old. It wasnt that quick to move on.
@@lauraarmstrong3168 so you get pregnant the moment you move in with someone? Good to know.
Wow. That revelation is just an eye-opener. He's not just a 'castaway' on an island. He was 'cast away' by his cheating fiancee. The double-meaning that everyone should realize.
@@BeamFox311 He was cast away by all his friends and family.
I'm pretty sure this is also why the title of the movie is "Cast Away" rather than "Castaway." That's a massive clue right there.
🤣 How dare you!
You’re a freakin’ genius
Mind blown
Yooooooo
sorry pls explain this to me
I never liked the Kelly character. The fact that she actually blames him. "You said you'd be right back." Like it's his fault he was in a plane crash and stranded for 4 years on an island. I never thought about her having a previous affair but I did think that time line was rather quick for someone who "always knew you were alive." Within a year and a half she married and moved on.
Exactly! Also how she says "everybody said I had to move on" who's everybody and why do you have to move on? Most of what she says is vague and evasive anyway because her dialogue is written to evoke mistrust, as is Helen Hunt's acting, i.e. looking like she was about to have a panic attack when Chuck said "let me get one thing straight here." 😨 I expand on these thoughts in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) 🙂
That dramatic display of affection near the end of the movie was also, essentially, an act of cheating.
Essentially
@@macrofunction Except, you can probably understand the conflicting emotions, confusion and shock Kelly must have felt when Chuck shows up at the door after long being given up for dead. This scene requires empathy for the position Kelly was in where the viewer might try to put themselves in her shoes. Her and Chuck's story was unfinished.
I admit I missed quite a bit. But the fact that Chuck really wasn`t gone that long, and his woman had already married some other guy and had a child by him, a child who was already two years old, indicated to me there was something funny going on with the woman.
that media literacy is a mothafuckerfucker
women age faster, their biological clock runs out a lot faster than a mans. Women age like milk, men age like wine. Women just have that biological survival trait that helps them move on quicker.
@@hemlo7494 The baby looks about one year old. 4 years is a long time. It doesnt seem out of place. One hard year of grieving, then reluctantly moving forward, what choice did she have?
Mind blown. It’s right there in the title.. it’s Cast Away, not Castaway. Well done.
I'd wondered about that title choice, and now it makes sense.
@@thirstinthrockmortoniii9202 Ditto.
@@jbrink0990 Chuck was cast away by all his friends and family, not just Kelly.
A lot can change in 4 years, granted, but I always found it odd (and irritating and contrived) that she managed in that span of time to do all of the following: give up on the idea of him being alive, get over him and grieve, re-enter the dating scene, find a new person and fall in love, get engaged, get married, get pregnant, give birth and then have the baby be at least several months old by the time he returned.
Really? How many times do you know of plane that’s has crashed in the south pacific where there was a survivor found after 4 years
Depends on the person, if she was already cheating like the video suggests, it was probably a matter of weeks or months before she moved in with her secret lover.
Most women do that in 4 minutes. Wake up
@@EmperorStarscream yeah, that was more or less what I was alluding to. It's a much more plausible explanation.
Very likely for women......they do not love men.
I was having this exact same argument for 20 years with everyone I knew who saw this movie. Details masquerading as banal conversation. The subtle subtext. The child's age was an obvious red flag, though the final nail which sealed it for me was when Kelly ran to Chuck to kiss and embrace him in the rain. Knowing she has a home with a husband and child sleeping inside, and chooses to run from it to kiss and hold a man from her past boldly displays Kelly's lack of impulse control.
When Chuck returned the watch to Kelly, he told her that it didn't work, as in hindsight of his relationship. He said to her that he kept the picture, and that "it was faded anyway," much like their bond. He never said to Kelly that it was her who kept him alive on the island. He did declare this to Bettina in a note he left for her, as it was Bettina who gave him the "wings" to escape the island. By chance, Chuck came across her on the intersection at the right time much like by chance he came across her package and her wings.
Good to see someone else picked up on the subtleties of the subtext, as people thought I was overanalysing. 😂
As usual people don't know what they're talking about because your analysis is great! 😅 What you said about Chuck telling Bettina but not telling Kelly nothing is actually why I chose to end my video on "I love you too, Kelly, more than you'll ever know." because, knowing what we know, hearing Chuck say that line is like hearing a dagger. Great stuff! 😁
Who else might you meet at a crossroads with your soul in a box?
@@ExtraCheeseProject But any chance of Chuck having a frank and open discussion with Kelly was thwarted by the dentist showing up at the airport.
@@lauraarmstrong3168 Absolutely. The film may have ended differently if _Mr Big_ hadn't of been there to mark his territory 😬 In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I also theorized how different it would have been if Lovett opened the door instead of Kelly when Chuck went to see her at night 😅
That part sucked, it looked like the dentist was forcing Kelly to leave without being given the opportunity to speak to Chuck.
I never saw the plot in this manner before. But then, I didn't see it happening in my own marriage either.
Ugh, I'm sorry man.
😬 Sorry to hear that ❤🩹
Yo, and I don’t say yo, but that’s hilarious.
Chuck went back to visit with Bettina after she left him at the crossroads. With that last look she gave him, who wouldn't! She was in the barn getting ready to do some work. She invited him to join her in having a cool iced tea. Chuck explained to her all that had happened and how that package sustained his faith that he would return home from the island.
This was better than any therapy he could ever have. She was kind and listened with her heart.
It wasn't his intent to find love, but rather to find himself and a path forward.
Delivering that package, was the key to that journey.
Eventually they would fall in love and live happily ever after, but it took a lot of time for her to learn to trust again and for him to open his heart to her after losing Kelly. Bettina added Chuck's name to the arched entry to her land.
They named their first child Wilson!
"They named their first child Wilson!"
Priceless!! 😆😆😆
Thank you for concluding the film for us and well done! I too thought the film ended a bit too soon.
@@JackalBlack My pleasure!
What an inspired conclusion. How wonderful is this.
@@TheFlashSpeedforce and another child Spaulding...
Is anyone familiar with the spoof done by I believe Mad TV many years ago, when after he's saved, Hank's character is delivering the final package he had on the island with him, to the rightful owners , and they open it in front of him and it's a Survival Kit with fishing gear, flint, flares, tent, etc.? Lmao, genius.
Way back in 1981 I wrote a paper based on the thesis that Star Wars was not about the Jedi, Darth Vader or the fall of the empire. People can't relate to that because it is too distant and out of our experience. My thesis was that Star Wars about the redemption of Adaken by his son Luke fighting his father's sins to redeem his father's fall into darkness. We, as regular people, can relate to a son fighting to save his father from his father's own sins. (It sounds like a Shakespeare play actually.) My teacher did not believe it and gave me a C+ because he could see the time, I put into it and there were no grammar or spelling errors either.
Flash forward to the 90's and the trilogy comes out on a VHS tape set with an interview with Lucas at the very beginning of the first movie. Lucas says, 'the movie is not about the Jedi, the Sith or the Empire but about a son seeking redemption for his father." I went back to my old high school to show it to my ex-teacher and to tell him that even back then, the student(me) had surpassed his instructor(him).
Sometimes, a big story just hides the really small plot of the actual story.
"When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master." Your comment made my day! I love the idea of an _I told you so_ a decade in the making and the catharsis that must have come with it 😁 A+
It's the big PLOT disguising the STORY. Plot is what happens to the characters and the circumstances they're in. The story is about their personal "journey" to redemption, self discovery, atonement, or whatever it is.
John...you're a living embodiment of The Inklings...the little literary group that included CS Lewis and Tolkien.
The Father is Baby Boomers.
The Son is Gen-X.
She's still not as bad as his other GF, Jenny
HAHAHAHAH.
Or the other one that blew up on him..Apollo 13. Strange name for a girl!
Yes! Just said the same thing! Jenny is the worst!! Even worse than Parker Posey in You’ve Got Mail.
😂
😂 Jenny WAS horrible.
So he was cast AWAY before he even made it to the deserted island. NOW I get it!
What a great video. Having watched this movie a number of times, it always bothered me how Kelly acted so much in love and believed Chuck to be alive, and yet, moved on seemingly quickly and easily.
Now it makes much more sense!
@@Daniela-vo4hi Not quickly or easily. She is not totally settled in her marriage. She dropped her dissertation which was only weeks away from his crash. Her life turned upside down. Imagine your loved one going missing and presumed dead and no concrete proof that they're dead. Your mind plays tricks on you. Everyone telling you to move on. What choice is there? 4 years is not an unreasonable timeframe.
Me reading the title of this: "you're full of crap!"
Me after watching this for 2 minutes: "That tramp!"
🤣
Hahaha! Same here.
The real message of the movie was, If you need to go to the dentist, don't postpone it but go immediately
Yeah, you're right. I lost a tooth due to not going to the dentist earlier, when I made an appointment I never got there because of Covid lockdowns...by the time I did make it the tooth had died and I'd put up with a lot of pain.
Absolutely! 😭
The dentist was not only drilling his tooth.
@@paulengels6926 🤣
Dem bee faqs
And here I thought this movie was about a guy that got stranded on an island via plane crash, silly me lol.
He 100% cared more about delivering the package with the wings on it than he did about getting back to Kelly. So that furthers your theory. Her art and his dedication saved his life, not the desire to return to Kelly. He ended up where he needed to be, not where he wanted to be. In the end, he ended up with the lady that was also cheated on in the beginning.
Well said! 👏
I never understood why Kelly wouldn’t come to see him. I wouldn’t expect my girlfriend to wait forever if I went missing. But to act like you don’t even care they survived is just inhuman.
But the fear of being caught being a cheater makes some sense.
Just an obscure thought....Chuck wasn't truly "Cast Away" until after he was rescued. The life he knew and the people in it (at least the version of those people at that time) no longer exist. He came "home" only to be a stranger in his own life.
I love this interpretation 😮 You should watch the follow-up video as well you'll probably enjoy it 😃
@@ExtraCheeseProject will do! Thank you for the recommendation!
If only Chuck had brushed and flossed more regularly, Kelly and Jerry might never have met.
Thought he would learn after Jenny. Better luck next time.
OK. You have me. I BELIEVE. But what I absolutely refuse to believe is that a dental surgeon drives a Toyota Camry.
Kelly drives the Benz.
He does have a 60 yacht and a bungalow in the caymans
The thought of returning to Kelly kept Chuck alive and led him back to civilization. The fact that he could not be with her after returning just allowed him to move on towards his destiny with the gal from Texas. I think Chuck did OK in the end.
Honestly, there is something extremely Irish (thus extremely accurate) about this psychoanalytic deconstruction of the film. Further evidenced by the fact that the screenwriter, William Broyles Jr., uses female unfaithfulness and/or male alienation as a consistent theme in all of his movies: Unfaithful (literally), Jarhead (overseas tour + cheating gf), Apollo 13 (Hanks sent to space + wife symbolically drops her wedding ring down a shower drain). Not to mention the 'coincidental' partnership of Hank + Zemeckis, who created Forrest Gump's Jenny and definitely had a say in Cast Away's character development. Subconscious or intentional, I think these guys are fixated on the topic of the heroically tragic man and the invariably unfaithful woman. Bravo 👍
That's an excellent point! I'm adding this to the pinned comment now 🍀
Interesting view. I saw a man who was unable to commit, put work way way ahead of his relationship and then when shit went sideways he regretted it and realized he had taken her for granted. Meanwhile back in Tennessee, when Chuck was declared dead they held a wake where the dental surgeon showed up and manipulated her using her grief and guilt over not trying harder to stop Chuck from getting on the plane. But honestly, she was just tired of never coming first. Through the guilt and self-doubt he was able to force a Trad wife lifestyle on her, but by the time Chuck made it back, it was too late for her- she had nothing but regret but now that she had a baby, it was that life she had to live. Meanwhile, Chuck who had been inspired by the angel wings design while on the island left to give the package back to the sender and to tell the sender that it was partly that art that kept him going and to thank them. Then they end the movie with the notion that this might be a redemptive relationship for him as he is no longer afraid to commit and no longer addicted to a corporate-dictated lifestyle. I don't think Kelly nor Chuck cheated as Chuck was declared dead, so it was just a tragedy all around. The point wasn't that there was cheating, it was that there are moments in life where the choices we make are permanent and you can't take it back, and all you can do is survive and keep moving forward. That is my take on it anyway. Which is the cool thing about art really.
I appreciated reading your interpretation, but at this point I think that Kelly's betrayal is not _open to interpretation_ anymore, because the protagonist is named 'Chuck' (i.e. to throw careless) and the film is titled 'Cast Away' (i.e. chucked away), so it's firmly rooted into the subtext. The case is made further in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) if you're interested 😬
Lol, I saw one of your other comments on here. Even less objective than this one. Men are like cockroaches? Okay.
@@2dawgsmiked684 LOL no hun... not all men... the ones that seem to come out of nowhere to take advantage of a woman grieving the loss of her husband/fiance/boyfriend. Prior military showed me just how bad it is when one of the soldiers lost his life... it was like the spouse was now fair game and they would banter about tagging her first.
@@ExtraCheeseProject You are so refreshing! I love chatting with people like this. Interestingly, the term "to chuck" comes from old french -chuquer- to throw or knock, while the name Chuck from germanic chukken means "Free Man"... while Kelly has a couple of meanings- most commonly it means Strife or Tool. So, I think your point is made on that aspect because if you put both those meanings of Chuck together plus the name Kelly considering she was used by the dental jerk and experienced strife because of it, combined with the move title... pretty good points! A++
@@Saiya4779 Interesting, I went with 'bright-headed' - in the follow-up video, but I completely missed the 'strife' definition and your excellent interpretation! 😬 It's so great because the subtext in the third act is setting up a lot of strife between Kelly and Lovett for after the credits roll; wonderful analysis 💯
Wow! I always thought Helen's character was a cold lifeless woman. It all makes sense now, Thanks!
Same, I definitely didn't miss that point.
Im sorry but kelly was trash.
She married his dentist (not cool)
Then had a baby for him. (WTF!!!)
Then she gave up on her career. (Whaaaaat?)
Then she was ready to abandon her whole new family in a blink of an eye if he didnt tell her to "Go Home"
OH, and she did all that in 4 years...
Kelly was the villain of the film.
I love the analysis...you suggest that "his entire experience is surrogate for Kelly's betrayal..." I think I would go one step further and say the story was metaphor for what he actually went through. The pain of being betrayed and eventually having to extract the pain from yourself..., the feeling of abandonment and feeling alone becasue society makes us put on the "good face" at such times...an on and on until he finally wakes up from the nightmare, physically he never was "cast away" on an island he was right there stumbling through his life the whole time; but becasue his mind was so caught up on his abandonment and pain years of his life has passed him by. Not something easily recognized except by those who have lived it themselves.
An excellent interpretation presented beautifully, I think this may well be the case!
Interesting!
Did nobody notice that the movie is literally named Cast Away not Castaway?
Never did I think she was unfaithful, but I thought it was strange that she was afraid to marry Chuck, but was married with kids only 4 years after his disappearence.
Exactly _"What happened to you becoming a professor, you're not Dr Kelly Frears-Lovett?"_ In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I theorize that a combination of financial troubles and an unexpected pregnancy forced Lovett and Kelly together 😬
@@ExtraCheeseProject Yes, that was also my impression; that she never loved the man she married.
Well it’s not uncommon. Especially considering she lost him she got a bit panic and decided to be quicker now to not loose “the next guy”. It’s actually a very common phenomenon.
The slag got knocked up.
Great video man! I watched this over a month ago when I had a tooth removed; perfect timing!
Thank you so much for the support! This is such a big help right now and so encouraging! 🤯 It's funny you say that because my grandad had a tooth removed a couple of weeks ago and I said I'd put on Cast Away for him 💀 I'm planning a Part 2 followup to this video hopefully out in a month 😀
I remember disliking Kelly in the film even though I knew it was perfectly rational to move on after someone is believed lost at sea, or otherwise presumed dead. That makes logical sense.
There was still this... something. I couldn't put my finger on it. She seemed emotionally distant, like she just wasn't invested. I wrote it off as bad acting for the longest time, just the actress phoning it in on an otherwise great film.
Now? This all makes perfect sense.
Same, i was a child...with life experience, oh yeah seems that way.
I’m floored by all of this. Makes a lot of sense. The double meaning of the words Cast Away… crazy.
Chuck even gets sent into isolation on a plane that says EX.
A commenter posted a joke which was included in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment): "Lovett fed Chuck's ex" 😅
Perspective and age have matured the original thought I had when I first watched it: Helen Hunt wasn't worth all that.
I always questioned the timeline after the plane crash. She goes from getting the engagement ring to grieving, recovering, starts dating, has a courtship, falls in love, gets engaged again, getting married and having two kids, all in 4 years. (Or maybe it was one kid? I don't remember).
Yes, that always gave me pause. He comes back and she has what looks like at least a two year old.
I still feel so sad for Chuck overall. After everything he went through to get home, he realized too late that the life he knew was NEVER going to be there for him to go back to. Even if Kelly had been faithful all along, he'd returned to her, and they lived happily ever after, those five years still would have changed everything. They wouldn't be the same people anymore, couldn't get that time back, and the memories of Chuck's experiences on the island would never fully leave him.
In a way, the man she knew from back then did die on that speck of land. It felt like such existential cruelty for this man to not only see his loved ones move on without him but have to accept that his desire to see Kelly again had served its purpose. That motivation was useful when it gave him the strength of will to survive & persevere through every obstacle thrown at him. He wouldn't have made it as far as he did, were he only motivated to get back for his own sake.
Chuck all but admits this while recounting his failed s*icide attempt on the island. Kelly was his drive to decide that he'd go on. But once he was back, only to see that he'd "lost her all over again", the determination that had sustained him throughout those years was now useless. Kelly was right in front of him, but distance was no longer the issue at hand.
This was one obstacle he couldn't overcome like the others on the island or at sea, something that no amount of strength could push through. Chuck had a major decision now: Disrupt Kelly's new life, break up her family, and try to salvage something that simply wasn't there anymore. Or, finally let go of the woman whose memory kept him going and cast away this chapter of his life just as she'd cast him away long ago. Let it all go and enter the greatest challenge of all:
Starting over. THAT'S the scariest mountain Chuck could endeavor to climb after all of this, the idea of rebuilding his life from essentially scratch. Thankfully, the movie doesn't leave us on some nihilistic note of him despairing and finishing what he failed to do on the island. At that crossroads (serving as a not-so-subtle metaphor), Chuck is unsure what to do next until the interaction with a beautiful stranger reminds him that there is still beauty in this life worth pursuing.
He can fall in love again. He can build new bonds (work, home, relationships, etc.). Chuck initially set out on this journey simply because he had to "keep breathing", to "see what the tide will bring". But now, he has more than just that as a reason to move forward. He's left with a renewed sense of something he may have feared he'd lost forever... HOPE.
A side note; In the beginning of the movie, they pan over pictures of Chuck and Kelly. They are shown having fun on sail boats, we see Chuck's sailing certification and a few trophies. So, Kelly is well aware that Chuck can navigate and captain a sail boat, and is possibly stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean. All the more crushing that she cast him away. Also in the beginning of the film, Kelly is never home and is never shown (or heard) returning any of his messages.
It's wonderful irony how when Chuck says on the island that he misses a dentist for his tootheache, Kelly is the one being drilled.
🦷😆☕
Totally gets me her last name now is Spaulding - competitor to Wilson
When I saw this in the theater, in real time I knew there was something wrong with Kelly's timeline ... Chuck's disappearance, how long searching would have taken, then Kelly's marriage and child ... and I knew that Chuck figured it out there in the kitchen and chickened out of confronting her. However, I never put together the clues that this is the underlying theme of the entire movie. Good stuff!!
I always found the timeline odd of this movie. He was on the island 4 years. In that time his wife got remarried to their dentist and already had a kid who appeared to be young but not a newborn. She didn’t spend much time grieving that’s for sure!
Well said! Not to mention leaving a _practically finished_ PhD on the shelf, I mean, she made a complete 180 😬
4 years is a long time.
@@insomthegreat Agreed, 4 years is a _very_ long time to not re-schedule a dissertation defense 😬
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the comments -- the guy she was (probably) cheating with was Chuck's dentist. Chuck mentioned he was having dental issues when he was briefly home at Christmas. She pushed him out the door onto the fateful flight because she didn't want him to visit that dentist, fearing her cheating might be revealed somehow. His stranding was a consequence of her trying to hide the cheating.
I really like your idea! A caveat: 'Spalding' is Chuck's personal dentist whereas 'Lovett' was apparently a random outcall _endodontist_ or oral surgeon for a one-off root canal (a fact which makes it beyond unlikely that Kelly just happened to meet him of all people after Chuck's disappearance). That said, the concept still has merit, as it's likely that Spalding would refer Chuck to the same _endodontist_ for another root canal 😃 Unfortunately, it's too late to add this to the followup video, so I'll pin it in a comment when it's out 💯
Not the same dentist, this guy is not his dentist he only did a procedure after he was referred
@@tech9803 It wasn't up to Kelly to forbid Chuck from getting on that plane. Chuck was a grown man and married to his work. Kelly was probably resigned to his travel schedule at this point. She had misgivings and he was trying to hold on to her. I think they were both headed for a breakup upon his planned return at New Years.
Interesting and sad that Chuck's two most important relationships in this movie (Kelly and Wilson) were basically fictional.
You know what doesnt make sense is the dentist saying "you probably dont remember me". If anything the dentist would not remember Chuck as he was one of many root canals performed. For Chuck the root canal was probably significant.
This is an excellent point! A dentist in the comments made a similar argument a while ago and then it was backed up by another dentist's comment recently. It's a small point, but the small points become huge with context, so I'm going to make a short-form video to outline this 👏
The dentist definitely remembers this root canal because he was in his woman's canal.
@@normie2716 🦷😭☕
This makes so much more sense now. I absolutely hated that movie on a visceral level, but consciously couldn't come up with a reason I felt it was so horrible when everyone was raving about it. So in the background, my subconscious caught all of those clues, but I never quite put it together.
I didn’t wanna believe it but the time line sealed it for me. I woke up my brother as I yelled “HOLY CRAP!”
Most interesting study. And, like it or not, the film has all necessary supporting elements to this hypothesis.
Following the same line of thinking, ending up marooned in that island actually saved Chuck from either (a) a heartbreaking dump by Kelly (who according to this theory will drop him like a lead jacket as soon as she performed her title defense dissertation); or, (b) a doomed marriage since following the same logic, if Kelly failed to gain the resolve and moral fortitude to do the right thing and end their relationship, she most likely would have ended up marrying him, not out of love but out of convenience since he was the sound financial logical choice over a dentist, being a regional Exec Manager for FedEx in Eastern Europe already.
Yet, it is unlikely she would have the decency to break her established cheating cycle and very likely would have continued her duplicitous liaison.
Hence, his forced staying in the island may have actually saved him: penitentiaries... and graveyards are chock-full of betrayed husbands.
Definitely, it's a most interesting analysis.
I thought this was obvious ... 🤔 Kelly is living in the future , as is Chuck . Until Chuck is forced to live in the moment , via survival . They would have never married . The " crossroads " bring Chuck to his future wife Bettina . Bettina was also on the island with Chuck . Represented by the unopened package , he saved to deliver in person . Two cast always , who survived and found one another .
Damn. Another profound thing I missed. I’ve seen this movie like 15 time too
No most of us understood it. Helen Hunts character was a horrible person
How specifically though?
Agreed, I’ll bet she even uses Spalding brand balls
Lol
Dunno about horrible. She was a flake.
The plot of the movie is don't take life for granted, One day everythings great money love friends and next day your alone standing at the crossroads wondering which way to go as shown at the end of the movie
Chuck wasn't taking his life for granted though: in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I point out that he was actually working hard to provide for the family he thought he was going to have with Kelly - he did propose to her in the first act, but she was terrified of this and did _nothing_ to stop him from leaving on Christmas - so, she was the person taking her life for granted.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectI think Kelly by then had given up on any predictable, stable home life with Chuck, and accepted he would always be leaving, ruining holidays due to his work. How could she stop him? He was married to his work. His proposal was pathetic, I'd feel ambivalent about it too.
@@lauraarmstrong3168 On the other hand, Kelly was in the final stages of her PhD and wouldn't have had any time for Chuck either, I know from experience 😬
One of those "wow, how did I not notice that" moments. New twist on a film I've watched countless times. So busy watching his struggles, I didn't think past her finding out he was dead and moving on as easily as most women seem capable of doing.
Pretty sure the point of Cast Away was marketing for FedEx.
FedEx Marketing team: So the plane crashes and everybody dies except for Chuck. FedEx CEO: You're fired! 😝
and Wilson ?
Well done. This certainly explains why it was much sadder when he lost Wilson than when he lost Helen Hunt. He had a better relationship with a volleyball than his girlfriend.
Agreed, but things could get rocky with Wilson as well, but in the end it's clear Wilson really got a kick out of his relationship with Chuck.
BROOO FAX this version of cast away blew my mind my whole family loves this film but now they’ll soon hate that HELEN HUNT
The point that I got was to not procrastinate on going to the dentist.
😂
🦷🍬😭
😂
I waited 15 years and wasn't even stuck on an island. But yes I agree that was a big mistake.
"Kelly had to let you go" but she still has maps and search charts all over the dining room table.
This is a woman with commitment issues.
I thought I was the only one who saw the inconsistancies of Kelly's moving on.
You're spot on! Also, Lovett tells Chuck that Kelly has been "lost" since he returned, because now she's thinking about the finished PHD she had to leave on the shelf; suddenly she sees a possible 'escape route' to the life she actually wanted, i.e. becoming a professor 😬
This dude gets betrayed by Jenny AND Kelly. Truly two of the worst movie villains in history.
Agreed 😬
Taking this into account, it makes Chuck's interaction with his "guardian angel" that much more poetic and completes the character foil these two share: Both are passionate at what they do, both have been cheated on, both are stranded alone with a companion in a "desert island" and both make their way to each other. Also of note, it wasn't really Kelly that helped him survive, but his desire to deliver that package to this "guardian angel".
Guardian angel! This is perfect. After the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I've been -working on- struggling with the script for a third video and your awesome contribution just gave me a breakthrough 🙏 Thank you so much for the great feedback! 😃
@@ExtraCheeseProject Happy to see someone not fixated on the whole "not enough time" concept. Movie is too good to be pigeon holed into one area of significance.
@@ExtraCheeseProject I forgot to mention something that Logos Made Flesh said that made me realize something in terms of the whole "Cheatin Kelly" arc. For starters, if we apply the "Divine intervention" Chuck gets when getting off the island, we can even go further than that. In truth, Chuck is actually freed of his relationship with Kelly through divine intervention. By getting marooned on an island, he is forced into a break up and is saved from an even more embarrassing betrayal had it gone public. Then he is directed to a better partner who will love him.
@@JODA93 I like this interpretation a lot! Another commenter said something like _"Chuck survived the island, he could handle that, but he would have never survived finding out Kelly's betrayal"_ and this concept is definitely fuel for the follow-up video, thanks again! 😃
@@ExtraCheeseProject that's actually pretty good. One script revision gave that impression. When the phone went to voicemail it said that that was what Chuck "didn't want to hear". He was already in denial.
I always pride myself that I can catch things in movies but this flew over my head… What sealed it was the timeline and when Tom hanks character looked at the fridge and saw the kid noticed the age then added 9 months to that, then put the rest together….
Wow just wow
Nice work. Most of us kept waiting for the movie to begin. We thought it finally got going on the island. How easily we forget that the movie began at the beginning!
Well said! 👏
So basically, the whole island thing is a metaphor. He was betrayed, he felt completely cut off from the world, lost, unable to pick himself up, isolated... and then he finally decides to get out of his madness, sets himself off to the world, and faces her after all that time. She kept their car, which had "a lot of good memories", and he takes that car, all those memories, and sets himself free. The other woman at the end, was only conceptualized on that island, during the isolation, and she didn't have a shape, but she was pure, thus the angel wings as a metaphor. And he finds that woman in the end at that crossroads. It is basically a story of a man who was lost and picked himself up, and found himself again.
I love this rundown 😮 Your insights about the car being totemic for the relationship's good memories - and Bettina's _formless/angelic_ nature - are incredibly perceptive and it's a shame I can't go back and include them in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) 😬
her reaction to chuck asking about the football team shows much relief that he wasn't going to address the most obvious question.
Definitely, it happens again in the scene with the Jeep when Kelly lowkey gaslighted him "You said you'd be right back" and Chuck said "I'm so sorry" there's a five second gap between these lines where Kelly's face drops like _"omg he's gonna call me out this time for sure"_ 😅 Great directing 👏
@@ExtraCheeseProject another thing not mentioned is that he talked about his dentist james spaulding, to wilson.. there is a theme of dentists. If notice at the end, betina had "cast away" the husband's name at the half of her sign overlooking the ranch. This would suggest both were cast away and would come together as one. Excellent takeaway from this you did.
@@spaghetti9845 Both excellent points, there's a followup video in the works which will cover this topic in depth, including a lot of the genius contributions I've had from the comments 😃 Thank you so much for the feedback and the insights!
I've always thought it was a commentary on how sketchy oral surgeons are, that they're not to be trusted, and can easily be replaced by a figure skate and a rock.
With nothing more than a volleyball in attendance.
Clearly, she wasn't mad about Tom.
You mean she wasn't Mad About Chu...?
Wilson was a surrogate for Kelly and he had his emotional reaction when he lost Wilson.
Wilson probably cheated on Chuck too.
Agreed! 😃 Earlier someone said Wilson was cheating on Chuck with a coconut 🏐🥥😅
Chuck yelled at Wilson then kicked him in his face.
Dang. It's a cold world out there.
Even when I was a kid I noticed that when Kelly looked at him while making photocopies… it wasn’t a look of love and longing. It was a look of disappointment
Agreed! 👏 In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I pointed out that she's also introduced with her back to Chuck and the audience and - as another commenter pointed out - she's standing next to a 'Caution: Radioactive Material' sign ☢
When the movie came out my Brother-in-law pointed this out. He alerted me the title qas "Cast Away" and not "Castaway".
Two words not one.
She didn't just "meet a new guy and move on quickly". She "coincidentally" met and married a man who "happened" to be Hanks' dental surgeon? If it had just been some random new guy that Kelly met, that's one thing. But she met and married Hanks' doctor. Note that it wasn't Hanks' friend or relative who would have been in a position to join Kelley in her mourning over losing Hanks which could have led to their new-found relationship. It was Hanks' doctor. The coincidence is too much and supports the previous affair theory.
Well said! 👏
The nerve on the doctor saying
"Hi i did root canal for you five years ago" And then 'stole' his GF a year later
This fkng movie man
My takeaway was improving the structural integrity of your raft.
Wow. It just makes you really appreciate just how well acted this movie is. I mean now that you point it out the friend that asked when he would make an honest woman out of her had his true feeling all over his face......And the scene in the house when he connected thr time line and said "let me get this straight... " The fear on her face and the realization on his, i loved this movie and totally missed all of this.
Agreed, for a film without much dialogue the actors really _evoked_ the feelings, in a way their emotions spoke louder than words 😬
Wow, you peeled away the onion for me. So much you revealed that I missed when watching this movie. The image Chuck had of Kelly kept him alive on the island, but it was a false image. What an amazing turn of events.
There's more in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) as well! 😅
I listened to a Hanoi Hilton’s account, and the memory of his wife kept him alive for 7 years, not knowing whether he was alive or not, 6 years in his wife finally moved on and remarried.
I never put all the pieces together, but I always recognized that the film's title was not castaway, a noun, but _Cast Away,_ a verb.
I think he nailed it perfectly. Helen Hunt had a knack for playing cute, perky, but deeply flawed women..
Oh good catch!
The thing that made it clear is when he said, “Let’s get one thing straight here,” then went on to talk about the football team, while she looked scared crap less.
Absolutely! 💯 A commenter made a brilliant contribution which I covered in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment): basically the NFL _betrayed_ Memphis when they put the Titans in Nashville, so even Chuck's alternative question still concerns betrayal (it's explained better in the video) 😅
I liked Cast Away enough I bought it on dvd, but after having been cheated on a couple times, I found myself just unable to watch it again, like my subconscious mind just knew she was a cheating cheater who cheated on chuck the whole time. Makes sense.
Would have been a nice paycheck to come home to, Plus finding out you don't have to share it and he got his truck back.. it's like a country song from an alternate universe.
Being 61 I have been in bad relationships . It's hard to believe that the woman you love is a cheating liar even though the signs are there. No one told me and then said I surely knew. I left 2 days after finding out my 6 year old wasn't biologically related to me. 15 years 10 married I was still in love. Like a death of someone close.
I'm sorry to hear that ❤🩹
I understand, 57 and only bad relationships with the wrong women for the wrong reason. But, boy have I had fun! Remember from here on out women outnumber men, a good time to not be tied down. Sorry about the child not being yours.
Sorry to hear that. Hope you are all right now!
I don’t get people who cheat, if you’re not happy in your relationship talk to the person you’re involved with see if there’s a compromise if not move on and find someone who is worth your love and time, but don’t devalue yourself by becoming a cheater.
because they are animals who use people for their benefit, like a con artist. Usually lack empathy from their amygdala being wired fucked up at an early age.
Exactly! In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I concluded that Kelly and Lovett were bad people whose punishment was being stuck with each other, while Chuck and Bettina were good people and their reward was finally meeting each other 😃
@ thank you, I’ll watch in the morning.
Rewatching this film shortly after my wife left me, it really did seem like a cheating /breakup movie.
The slow burn relationship abrubtly ending in flames. The feeling of total abandomrnt, and isolation.
All of the stuggles just to make it through one more day. And the final acceptance of fact.
And of course in the end, the ''now what?'' moment.
Hang in there. I know it sounds dumb, but make sure you’re getting some kind of exercise every day, even if it’s just going for a walk. This is crucial to keeping you sane.
I feel ya, buddy. I once lost a very long-term relationship to an incredibly intelligent woman who used me spiritually and psychologically and then threw me away when I no longer suited her purposes. Such is life. Learn from the experience. Do not allow it to embitter you. Become more.
@@VictoryAviation For sure. I stopped drinking for months, bought a heavy bag and worked out twice a day, And yes, it was a big help.
This was 5 yrs ago. Your advice is sound.
@@Eli-Just-Eli Really glad you did that. It was an incredibly smart move. Also glad you’re doing better now.
I felt that the true love relationship in the movie was between Chuck and Wilson, but Wilson needed to sacrifice their relationship so Chuck could move on - there's no way Wilson would be able to handle the amount of betrayal his beloved Chuck was going to face. Wilson was the best actor in the whole movie, and deserved a sequel - Wilson the martyr for love, adrift on the high seas, looking for permanence, home, the meaning of life - and an air compressor.
"and an air compressor" 🤣
I didn't agree at first, but I totally forgot she married his dentist from five years ago. I thought it was just some dude. Damny Kelly, what a POS.
The light Chuck flicked on and off when he got back home showed him more loyalty and love than Kelly ever did.
What kept him alive was the package he saved and therefore needed to deliver meeting his destined love
Well said! I agree completely and even covered this in the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) if you're interested 😃
Whoa, im literally stunned. Something about helen hunts character never sat well with me.
Absolutely! In the follow-up video (link in the pinned comment) I mentioned that she was introduced with her back to both Chuck and the audience, which - in cinematic language - illustrates her _cold shoulder_ and uncaring nature 😬
SAME!
Same, perhaps that's why I've only watched the movie a handful of times. The themes of betrayal & forgotten about by the people who we thought loved us hits hard.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectI thought the way Chuck humiliated Kelly in front of the entire family dinner by mocking her failed first marriage indicated a cold, passive-aggressive streak in Chuck. And giving her a pager demonstrated a tendency to try to control. His first love was his work. Kelly would always be #2 in his life, but for the time he was on the Island, she literally gave him the strength and determination to survive.
The screenplay was written by William Broyles Jr who also wrote the screenplay for unfaithful.
case closed
I have seen it several times but never before caught this plot line - makes so much sense and explains many things I had thought were slightly off.
"She had to live with the choices she made." Isn't that the biggest problem we face? No one thinks that they have to live with the consequences of their actions. You get one life. You live it but you also write pages in your book that cannot be erased or undone.
Tell that to religious Christians...they have eternal life and forgiveness from the lord ...oh and because they say so and you will burn in hell if you doubt ...🙄 if only they could recognize once they die that it's all BS one wouldn't mind as much when any religious nut preaches...unfortunately just like a reverse birth once one is dead you don't know or realize it after . That's why it's OK to remind them it's all a pike of crap while they are still around ..maybe they can live the only life they do have realizing how much more precious knowing it's the only life they do have ...the ones that say it's only God that keeps them from raping and killing.. well then remember santa clause won't bring naughty people presents either 😏🙄
The point of Castaway is a long-form ad for FedEx.
next time use fedex GROUND LOL
Rose was on her back before the lobsters finished Jack, so Tom Hanks should have known better.
I knew it was awkward but I always thought they were just busy working adults😂😂😂
Reminds me of Titanic.
Women see it as a romantic movie. Men recognize it as a horror flick.
"Instead of thinking about her family - who she had a life with for 70 years - Rosa remembers some guy she had a fling with on a ferry." Also, she threw away the priceless necklace instead of leaving it for her descendants, donating it to a museum, or even just selling it for charity 🙄 I class Titanic (1997) alongside Pearl Harbor (2001) as worthless movies which shouldn't have included real world historical catastrophes. I'd go as far to say that these two films existing cheapens our shared human story.
@@ExtraCheeseProjectAmen. I would argue that Cameron shot his shot with The Terminator and just been preaching his worldview at us very expensively ever since. Why not give the millions of dollars that went into making two Avatar films to planting trees and to help make reparations to indigenous peoples somewhere, since that’s the real reason he made those flicks. Sorry for the rant, I’m just sick of Cameron’s “thing”.
@@stevesheroan4131 By all means, thank you for the rant, well said! 👏
Lol at these people thinking she couldn't have cheated on him because she loved him 🤣
Women will cheat on their soul mates, bruv.
I am ashamed to admit that I missed from this movie any peripheral understanding that is presented here.
I mistakenly thought that the movie was about two people incredibly in love, separated, and a man’s incredible survival quest.
Same here--and I'll never be the same
Life is like a planeload of damaged cargo. You never know where it might crash.
Excellent comment 👌 sir
Comment made my day 🤣
@@josephcontreras8930 Thank you! Just now getting around to replying. Didn't want you to think i crashed.
@@ExtraCheeseProject Thank you! Your interesting take on this movie, and the connections between the other works is what inspired my wisecrack. Not everybody gets my humor.
I like that fact that you focused on the little things people miss when seeing the truth is just too painful for them, good on you boyo, that was right brilliant by the end. I lost it laughing on your montage in the kitchen lol so good.
Keep up the good work brother!
Thank you so much! 😃
ironic that he has tooth pain, and the dentist is who she was cheating with. you found the answer, good job.