All is Lost
A lone sailor in the middle of the Indian Ocean fights to keep his ship afloat after a collision with a shipping container.
Robert Redford
I can hardly put into words how good this movie was. It was so basic and at the same time complex. There is almost no dialog in the film, and it all centers around one man. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
Robert Redford was incredible. He was the lone character in this film, so the entire production rested on his back. If he didn’t give a powerhouse performance, the whole thing would have fallen apart. This is an old pro giving it his all.
Redford once again cemented how amazing an actor he is in this. Here is this guy, almost 80, fighting to survive. You felt his frustrations and his exhaustion with all the turmoil he has endured. You go through this ordeal with him and never once doubt his performance. As the situation worsens, your heart sinks.
Honestly, I can’t think of anyone more deserving of a Best Actor award this year than him. Phenomenal.
Director JC Chandor, who also wrote the film, delivered nothing short of a masterpiece. Since there was almost no dialog in the film, he relied on the intelligence of the audience to figure out what was going on. He explained things with Redford’s actions rather than the lazy way of just having the character talk to himself.
Robert Redford was the director’s first and only choice to play the lead.
This was a very risky endeavor. A film starring one guy with almost no dialog is almost impossible to pull off. Thankfully, due to some skillful directing, a fantastic story, and brilliant acting, this all came together perfectly.
This is one of those movies that will stay with you. It’s a very personal production. You can feel the heart and soul of it in every facet of Redford’s performance. The score is haunting and comes in at all the right times. The rest of the film is mostly the sounds of the ocean, which is both beautiful and fearsome.
I am lucky enough to live near one of the cities that has an arthouse theater that was playing the film. It’s depressing to realize that so much garbage gets dumped into 3,500 theaters, yet this opened in only 81. I can imagine the marketing folks smashing their heads into the wall trying to figure out how to sell a picture with one actor and next to no dialog.
As minimal as the film is, it doesn’t equate to boring. I was glued to the screen the entire time. I never once felt the need to check my watch or zone out of the film. Every moment, every ordeal, every little thing he did to try to save himself was spellbinding.
There still are a bunch of films from 2013 I need to see, but I can’t imagine any of them being better than this.
Huh. Both this and Gravity at the same time.
Wonder if we’re going to see a bunch of one-person-struggles-to-survive movies now.
I haven’t seen Gravity yet but I can’t imagine it being better than this. Gravity has the special effects to fall back on where this had nothing but Redford’s performance. (Just by looking at the quotes section of IMDB I get the distinct feeling Gravity will have a lot of talking to herself moments)
There’s quite a few, yeah, but it’s still a very well made movie. And while the visuals are, of course, stunning, I think it really shines through in the sound editing.
I’ll check it out but there are still a few movies I want to see first.
While Gravity may be great because of its visuals and effects it hasn’t triggered the urge in me to see it. All is lost, though, does. Thanks for your review, not hearing ANYTHING about this movie here in Germany at all, would have possibly missed it. Same with Moon – would’ve missed that gem too, while Apollo 18… *sigh*
If you get the opportunity to do so, totally see All is Lost. Its well worth it.
I’m the same. When I saw the trailer for Gravity it did nothing for me but as soon as I heard about All is Lost I knew I had to see it.
Moon was fantastic! Apollo 18…not so much. Depressing indeed.
Never heard anything about this film maybe it will be available on VOD. They would never play it at my local cinema anyway.
From the premise I would probably have avoided this film seeing how the last disaster at sea film I saw The Perfect Storm I did not like although films with a simple premise with minimal characters with one or few locations done right are one of my favourite type of film, Reservoir Dogs, Thursday, Brake, etc.
“It’s depressing to realize that so much garbage gets dumped into 3,500 theaters, yet this opened in only 81. I can imagine the marketing folks smashing their heads into the wall trying to figure out how to sell a picture with one actor and next to no dialog.”
I recently watched a movie called The Fall (2006) that I am surprised I have heard nothing about given it’s unique at the time visuals and a fairly good story. Don’t watch the trailer as it gives away the story.
Aw man, Perfect Storm was expensive mediocrity. A cool premise but I just didn’t care about any of the characters. Plus, some bland/bad CGI water.
Never heard of The Fall, I’ll give it a rent.
Oh you don’t know The Fall? I would have sworn you of all people know it 😉
It’s directed by Tarsem Singh whos quite known or his visual style. But while most o his movies have not much more then the visuals to shine with (The Cell, Immortals), the fall got a lot more then just that.
Why it is his least recognized film is really beyound me.
Some stuff manages to elude even me!
Redford has made enough contributions to film to have earned two lifetime achievement awards and he’s still going strong. You should check out The Company You Keep, Lions For Lambs, and The Clearing (with another super solid actor, Willem Dafoe), he’s having a really good run right now.
Redford is all class. While I may not like all of his movies he always gives a top notch performance.
So I only recently saw All Is Lost for a second time. Man what an experience. It really wears you down gradually. One question I had tho was and SPOILER – Do you think the sailor dies at the end? Or did he live? It’s a brilliant ending that can work either way. Personally I think his rescue was a hallucination.