Director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) is a dauntless filmmaker who takes a risk so early in his career. Being only his second feature film, All Is Lost entails a character with no name or past with barely any use of music and almost no dialogue. Then there is Robert Redford, who not only stars in the film, but is the only person in the film. Chandor had to find an actor who emotionally and physically could carry this film while holding the audience’s attention, and if you cannot count on Redford then who the hell can you count on?
Redford plays an unnamed sailor who wakes up on Virginia Jean, his small yacht, to see water rushing in and covering the floor. Now we do not know much about this stranger except he does have a family and definitely knows his way around a boat. We find out his yacht has crashed in to a random shipping crate out in the middle of the Indian Ocean and has slashed a hole in the hull. This is just the beginning of his troubles in the wide open sea. With rain and wind combining to create hellacious storms, the predators whom call the ocean their home, and the fear and panic that sets in due to dealing with all of this, All Is Lost becomes about survival in its purest form imaginable.
This man-abandoned-at-sea adventure is a calculated, well-crafted film. With All Is Lost, Chandor displays top-notch visual storytelling and in doing so, defying how we think a film should be presented and told. He gets right in the thick of things, up-close and personal with the camera and instantly you feel like you’re riding the rough, unforgiving black waves with our mysterious captain. For a film so simple, it is not only entertaining but remains captivating and distinct.
Redford’s character is an intelligent man who is quick on his feet and somehow never quite seems thrown off by the dangerous encounters he endures. He plays it cool even if he is scared as shit on the inside. However, as his journey continues and obstacle after obstacle pops up, his frustration begins to show. You slowly watch the hope in his eyes fade away while, at the same time, being replaced by fear. But he never stops fighting. It is a promise he makes at the very beginning.
For a man who speaks so few words, Redford is forced to convey every ounce of emotion through his gestures, looks, and overall presence on-screen. He makes us believe in him and the situation he has found himself in. In this case, actions truly do speak louder than words. Redford is 77 years-old and is still taking chances this late in his legendary career. He is reinventing what he has already mastered. We should not expect anything less.
Redford commands All Is Lost through hell and high water.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Subscribe to our Patreon. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube.
