Crusoe

Beautiful scenery, but an adaptation that's a bit trite. The dynamic between the former slave trader and the local lacks any real tension or drama.

Watchable, but just so. Come for the story, stay for the scenery.

This 1988 revision of Daniel Dafoe's popular desert island survival adventure has enough of a modern conscience to suggest a tropical variation of 'The Defiant Ones', with Virginia gentleman slave trader Crusoe (no first name is given: could it be Robinson?) shipwrecked off the African coast and chained by circumstance to a native tribesman. Director Caleb Deschanel brings to his own film some of the same meticulous attention to visual detail from his work elsewhere as an ace cinematographer, in this instance hiding the shortcomings of an underdeveloped screenplay behind lots of glorious surf-and-sand imagery. The story itself, perhaps because of its familiarity in outline, unfolds with a surprising lack of emotion for such a compelling scenario. Little information is offered about its protagonist except that he's a bigot with a lesson to learn, so what little character he has isn't very sympathetic. But the idea alone still carries a lingering fascination, making the film a consistently interesting if not always very involving experience.

I viewed this movie on TV and in Spanish, and it mattered not.

This is visual movie making at its best, the story being told through

gripping physical encounters and gut-wrenching emotions on an

enchanting island. Crusoe and Friday are fiercely strong

individuals who must learn to cooperate to survive. But this version

of the classic story goes beyond mere physical survival and

focuses on how Crusoe, a slave trader in the 1800s, and Friday, a

Black, overcome their innate prejudices and learn to trust, respect,

and finally to help each other survive against life-threatening odds.

The mythic feel of the film is enhanced by wondrous cinematography and sparkling music. Thanks Aidan Quinn, Ade

Sapara, and Director-cinematographer Celeb Deschanel for a

most delightful movie.

Not a lot more to say than what I wrote as the title of this review. People who like Defoe's basic storyline, or who appreciate a good survival story, will be dissappointed by the uninspired script and the clumsy way this version is executed.

Quite dull and unimaginative, Aidan Quinn had nothing to inject into the unlikeable and rather vacuous character exhibited by No-First-Name Crusoe. The attempt to add some emotional content by including a dog was utterly pointless. The "man Friday" from the original novel remained nameless after his first appearance, but learned an English song with laughable accuracy and somehow constructed a classic African accent in which to sing it, totally uncomprehending what the basic lyrics meant! Who knows what the purpose of that scene was! A previous, brief encounter with another black character was virtually inconsequential.

This story could have be told in two minutes and the ending was particularly dull and pointless. Three and a half stars for the scenery, half a star for the acting and story.

This almost wordless version, is my favorite, it captures the lonely feeling of being lost on a beautiful Island. A man lost to the world with no one to help him, finds he needs companionship. The actors did a great job expressing the parts. I feel the writer's human approach to expressing the conflict between the white and the black man shows for all to see that we are, all, in the human race and need to learn to overcome our superior selfishness whether white or black. These 2 men become friends even to learning from each other and they both show they are indeed able to share there lives with respect for each other. They learn to trust each other and to protect each other. The haunting theme music so sets off this story. It sets the stage with the emotion, giving the viewer a real feel for the truths in this wonderful story.