If you require a large number of explosions, CGI werewolves or are a HUGE Chris Tucker fan you probably shouldn't go to see All Is Lost. Excluding one, fairly brief, voice over there are a probably less than half a dozen words in the entire film (I recall four). But the plot explains this; it is the story of a man trapped at sea. He spends most of his time talking to a volleyball. Oh...wait...wrong movie.
Robert Redford's sailor doesn't talk to anyone because there is no one there to talk to and there is no contrivance to make him speak. He attends to the task at hand, which is what a person in this situation would do.
If you've seen the preview you know Redford's (and his character is not named) character's boat strikes an errant shipping container. From there he works on fixes and plots courses while battling the elements and plain old bad luck.
One amazing thing about the movie is that it never lags and it manages a sort of low-key tension throughout. Redford never has a real moment of rest, of comfort, as he tries to save himself. Director, J.C. Chandor, foreshadows some of what is to come in the film at the outset. The audience knows what the man on screen does not. Truthfully you know if you saw the previews but it is artfully done in the movie.
Robert Redford's sailor doesn't talk to anyone because there is no one there to talk to and there is no contrivance to make him speak. He attends to the task at hand, which is what a person in this situation would do.
If you've seen the preview you know Redford's (and his character is not named) character's boat strikes an errant shipping container. From there he works on fixes and plots courses while battling the elements and plain old bad luck.
One amazing thing about the movie is that it never lags and it manages a sort of low-key tension throughout. Redford never has a real moment of rest, of comfort, as he tries to save himself. Director, J.C. Chandor, foreshadows some of what is to come in the film at the outset. The audience knows what the man on screen does not. Truthfully you know if you saw the previews but it is artfully done in the movie.
Redford gives a powerful performance that, by definition, has to be understated and restrained. But there are moments that have to be done so delicately--rare moments when the character gives into emotion or, particularly, a point where the character truly believes all is lost. At that moment he is about to do something that truly is giving up and he can barely bring himself to do it. His depiction of this moment and of a man in these straits is outstanding. It is worthy, at least, of an Oscar nomination (although it would be shocking if he won).
One other thing about Redford--he looks good for a man his age but he looks at least CLOSE to his age. This is something aging leading men (or former leading men) should take a cue from. When you get older and you get Jean-Claude Van Damme-style plastic surgery it really doesn't prolong your career. It just makes you look like an alien.
This film curiously mirrors the recent film, Gravity, also about someone marooned and trying to survive but in a slightly different environment. Gravity is spectacular looking and keeps the back story spare. But it is incredibly detailed compared to the story of All Is Lost. We can glean some details from little clues throughout but we only have what happens on screen to go on--there is no talking, no photos of loved ones and no doomed side-kick. It is all Redford and the sea and curiously that is more than enough.
One other thing about Redford--he looks good for a man his age but he looks at least CLOSE to his age. This is something aging leading men (or former leading men) should take a cue from. When you get older and you get Jean-Claude Van Damme-style plastic surgery it really doesn't prolong your career. It just makes you look like an alien.
This film curiously mirrors the recent film, Gravity, also about someone marooned and trying to survive but in a slightly different environment. Gravity is spectacular looking and keeps the back story spare. But it is incredibly detailed compared to the story of All Is Lost. We can glean some details from little clues throughout but we only have what happens on screen to go on--there is no talking, no photos of loved ones and no doomed side-kick. It is all Redford and the sea and curiously that is more than enough.
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