Robert Redford stars in “All is Lost”, a compelling tale of survival at sea. In it, Redford is the sailor of a yacht on a solo voyage of the Indian Ocean in a modern day setting. When a shipping container ruptures the side of his boat, he must do what he can to mend the gaping hole and recover from a sudden influx of seawater into the vessel. All sources of communication are lost and the whole movie basically consists of one survival game as forces of nature (a storm) and other mishaps force the protagonist to stare his own mortality in the face and do what he can to maintain calm and a last vestige of hope.
There is very little dialogue throughout this movie. Only the occasional attempt at utterances over a faltering radio and one lone f-bomb. The voice over narration at the beginning is the only back-story we are given in a letter that is read by Redford during the opening of the film. We learn that he has a family but not much else and he apologizes to them for his predicament.
In the hands of another director or if another person were the star, this may have been a far less successful and more boring film but the resulting movie is so gripping thanks to J.C. Chandor’s expert direction and Robert Redford’s masterful performance. Redford’s every gesture and movement is plush with meaning and emotion as he gradually realizes the dire nature of his circumstances.
The score by Mark Ebert is well-done as well and is highly evocative. The score adds the appropriate foreboding atmosphere to the overall picture.
This is one of the best pictures of the year and I highly recommend it.
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