Cast Away

Tom Hanks stars as Tom Noland, a FedEx executive who flies around the world solving problems for his shipping company. A taskmaster and devotee of time management, he squeezes in a rushed Christmas Eve dinner with his fiancée (Helen Hunt), before he is called away to a company crisis in the South Pacific. Before boarding his flight, he gives her a surprise gift that appears to be an engagement ring, and he promises to return for New Year's. Noland's flight suffers a catastrophic explosion over the Pacific and crashes into the sea. He emerges as the sole survivor and begins a remarkable, modern-day Robinson Crusoe existence on an uninhabited island where time — which he valued so highly — is now meaningless. Faced with absolute isolation, he must quickly learn survival skills to save both his live and his sanity.