'All Is Lost' A Review

All Is Lost is a survival drama featuring only Robert Redford. The film opens on Redford (billed in the credits as "Our Man") sailing in the middle of the Indian Ocean when a floating shipping container tears a whole in his ship. This starts a series of events that eventually leave Redford stranded on a life raft with no food or water.

There's virtually no dialogue in the film. We know nothing and discover nothing about Redford's character. We watch an old man deal with a series of accidents and unfortunate circumstances on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. Redford does not express emotion further than surface frustration, anger, and stubbornness. We do not know why he is there, we do not know what drives him, we know nothing, we discover nothing. We simply watch an old man struggle to put his boat back together and survive storms. Redford's performance isn't bad, there is simply not much to it. Any old man in good physical condition could have duplicated the performance because Redford doesn't change in any way, does not reveal anything about who he is, he simply does the physical actions someone in that situation would do.

The film is mildly interesting because of the circumstances and Redford's age making them even more strenuous but it is too oblique for it's own good. The ending, especially, is entirely too precious leaving the audience to decide if "Our Man" has gone to heaven or been rescued.

Robert Redford status as a great actor and living legend is undeniable but watching him sail for two hours does not a great performance make.

Rent It.