ALL IS LOST (2013)

Genre: Adventure
Running Length: 1:46
Cast: Robert Redford
Director: J.C. Chandor

Watching ALL IS LOST is like watching one of those one-man contemporary stage performance. The premise is simple enough: an elderly man (played by the 77 year old Robert Redford) sailing on his yacht met with a bizarre accident which wiped out all working radio equipment and thus, left floating alone in the middle of the ocean. The entire movie is about our protagonist struggling to survive vs. giving in to hopelessness and die. What is compelling about this motion picture is the director's approach to the subject matter. Director J.C. Chandor (writer/director of the underrated Margin Call) is indeed an actors' director. Redford's character has no name and no backstory. There is hardly any dialogue and thus, the weight of the entire movie falls upon Redford's facial expressions and body language. His approach to survival in the beginning is business like; calm and methodological. There is no Wilson or Richard Parker to keep him company. But overtime, despair starts to seep in and you can see our lone mariner trying very hard not to give up. I thought the ending was a bit of a let down and I would have preferred it otherwise - to give the viewers an emotional punch in the gut.

Rating 6/10