It was strange that director Nicolas Roeg should want to make this desert island movie (based on the mammoth best-seller by Lucy Irvine), especially as he trod somewhat similar ground a few years before with Walkabout. There are a few flashes of surrealism and symbolism that suggests Roeg vaguely had some kind of statement in mind. But, unless it be that sex is a hot topic whether in a crowded city or a desert island, the 'statement' isn't clear. Certainly, like the remake of The Blue Lagoon, this one is almost entirely concerned with the male-female relationship, as nubile Lucy (Amanda Donohoe) contracts with paunchy, middle-aged Gerald (Oliver Reed) to spend a year on a Pacific island. It's a lengthy film in which nothing much of import happens, but, even so, the emotive ending works well enough and Donohoe, handed a thankless task by the screenwriter, almost makes a winning character out of her often naked castaway. In the long run, though, what you have here, Mr Roeg, is just another desert island film.
