This marvelous film is already on pay-for-view due to its disappointing box office results, but don’t let that keep you away. All Is Lost is an exceptional film.
All Is Lost (Robert Redford) – I have always marveled at those people who set sail on the ocean by themselves and head out into almost uncharted territory. Actually, I think they’re nuts! As All Is Lost opens, we hear a man reading his farewell to family and friends. Flash back eight days.
The Indian Ocean can be a lonely place. We see an aging, weathered man doing what he seemingly loves best: sailing on the open sea. Confident, knowledgeable, and resourceful, he effortlessly traverses this little world. He awakens to his living compartment filled with water. The boat is wedged against a wayward container from a cargo ship that punched a big hole in the side of his boat. He pushes away and sets about fixing it. Hanging down from a harness over the side of the boat, he has all the requisite tools, including glue and mesh he had placed onboard just in case of a leak. Unflappable, he moves on.
At every turn over the next few days, he deals with problem after problem. He has planned for virtually every contingency. The big storm hits; it’s a doozy. He hunkers down and rides it out. But his mast breaks. The radio is rendered unusable after it gets submerged in the rushing water. And just when it seems things are getting better, the next storm rages. He pulls out the life raft, complete with a cover and sextant. He tethers it to the boat but that doesn’t last long. Now he is at the mercy of the sea. He charts his course but he is helpless with no method of propulsion. So he hopes to float to the shipping lanes.
Will he be saved? Will he succumb? You got to watch to find out.
Robert Redford is absolutely fantastic as “Our Man” (that is the character name). In one of his best performances after, Redford doesn’t have the benefit of other characters. It is just him, the sea and the cameras (aboard three sailboats in Baja California and the Bahamas). There is hardly any dialogue. He doesn’t talk to himself and resorts to screaming an obscenity only once. Redford shows his age (he is 77) but also how great shape he is in. He swims, lifts, hoists, hangs, and pushes. His heartiness is a vital part of the movie. Most of us would have given up, and few actors could have handled the physical demands of this performance. He deserved the Golden Globe nomination he got. And he deserved an Oscar nomination. Too bad it was such a good year for male performances (heck, even Tom Hanks didn’t get nominated for Captain Phillips) because this was a tour de force.
Featuring a wonderful soundtrack from Alex Ebert that carries the film while reflecting the changing mood and the loneliness (the song “Amen” is haunting), All Is Lost ought to have received a Best Picture nomination. Directed by J. C. Chandor (Margin Call), the film is well paced. But it is Redford who appears in every scene and makes the film so captivating. Who knew he still had it in him? A more celebrated director than actor (he won his only Oscar for directing Ordinary People), Redford never sought the spotlight. His lasting legacy will be the Sundance Film Festival and its encouragement of independent films.
All Is Lost has been a box office disappointment, pulling in only $6 million of a $9 million budget thus far. But it is a film not to be missed.