Castaway

CASTAWAY (18)

D: Nicolas Roeg

Cannon/United British Artists (Rick McCallum)

UK 🇬🇧 1986

118 mins

Adventure

W: Allan Scott [based on the book by Lucy Irvine]

DP: Harvey Harrison

Ed: Tony Lawson

Mus: Stanley Myers

Oliver Reed (Gerald Kingsland), Amanda Donohue (Lucy Irvine)

Cannon Films were responsible for some pretty ropey films throughout the 1980's and this one is more of the same for their output.

A lonely, slovenly Londoner applies to an advert to accompany a man on a desert island as his 'wife'. Although she's not expecting to have sex and he does.

That's pretty much the crux of the story, which is nowhere near the usual quality from director Nicolas Roeg but the film's problems stem mostly from the story and screenplay (based on the memoirs of Lucy Irvine, Amanda Donohue's character) rather than the direction.

It does feature some stunning locations, good photography, plenty of nudity and a seemingly drunk Oliver Reed. It's not quite as terrible as most of the Cannon Films fodder, due to some rather picturesque photography, but did the producers honestly think people wanted to see a movie where Oliver Reed spends nearly two hours trying to fuck Amanda Donahue. This is pretty much the opposite of paradise.

4/10