The story begins at sea with the main protagonist, Crusoe (Aidan Quinn), en route to Africa to retrieve slaves.

He eventually makes his way to a tropical island, where he is alone and stranded until he discovers that a dog named Scamp and a small flock of geese have also survived.

Later he finds a rifle inside the shipwreck, and, weapon in hand and Scamp by his side, begins exploring the island.

At the same moment, the throats of two of the tribesmen are cut, but just before the last killing, Crusoe shoots his rifle, distracting the would-be assassins.

As Crusoe is about to perish he is granted clemency from the cannibal who decides to help by lowering him a tree branch.

While hiding onboard he discovers that among the crew is a scientist, Dr. Martin (Michael Higgins), who has studied cannibals and plans to bring his friend back to London.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars, saying "It is a big, bold production, with the width of vision that sometimes develops when the director has a background in cinematography.

"[4] Film4 said that although "the film is stronger on visuals than actual substance" it was "still a brave interpretation of an oft-told tale, with Quinn as a convincingly unpleasant Crusoe.

"[5] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post gave the film a negative review saying "Crusoe makes a pretty, fairly tame voyage from an antiquated, salty yarn to a modern-day repudiation of slavery.

"[6] The New Yorker's Pauline Kael said "[Deschanel] has an instinct for image magic, his emotionality and his feeling for atmosphere can carry a viewer along.

Aidan Quinn's Crusoe is a hippie Christ figure - a young man finding the way to be gentle.

The Robinson Crusoe story has been reimagined so that it's not a wilderness test of survival - it's a stripped down search for values.