All is Lost (2013) | Film Review

(Originally published on Letterboxd) - If you were to ask me to sit down and watch a near two hour educational film about the perils of sailing, and the endurance of the human spirit, I would probably tilt my head and sigh at you. Not because I'm not interested, but because the idea of sitting through that sounds exhausting. 

And I'd be right, though that's not a bad thing.

Robert Redford stars as a nameless man who finds himself adrift at sea after an unfortunate run in with a shipping container punctures the hull of his boat. Left without communications and modern navigational equipment, Redford is forced to employ old school nautical techniques in order put himself in the best place to be discovered.

All Is Lost is an impressive expedition into minimalist storytelling that never waivers in excitement or intrigue. The only glimpse into Redford's character (billed as Our Man) is the narration of a letter he writes explaining to whom ever may read it the kind of man he was, and how he did his did his best to survive. The level of honesty in those few sentences tells us that Our Man is not without his mistakes and regrets, but much like how he stoically forges ahead through each obstacle at sea, he's always done the best he could to not let those obstacles stop him from moving forward. The rest of the film is largely silent, with Redford being forced to convey the entire spectrum of human emotion through facial expressions and body language. For a man of his age (in his mid-70's), this is damn impressive... though it would still be damn impressive if he were thirty years younger as well.

JC Chandor's vision comes through loud and clear, a feat considering it's entirely visual. What he manages to pull off here would be a challenge to seasoned directors. So when you consider this is only his second feature film, it's safe to assume that Chandor has an extremely bright future ahead of him.

All Is Lost will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. And while it may put you off ever wanting to sail across the world on your own, as it did I, it will certainly imbue you with a healthy respect of those who do, along with Redford's ability to effectively convey the struggles one might go through.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go kiss the ground, put on some chapstick, and order "Sailing for Dummies" from Amazon... because you never know.