Review of All Is Lost (2013) by Chris B — 26 Feb 2014

"All is Lost" is a tale of survival against nature and pits man against the treacherous and vast ocean. Known simply as 'Our Man' (Robert Redford) is sailing solo when he awakens from a night's sleep to a flooded cabin in his boat, due to hit hitting a dropped metal storage container floating above the ocean's surface, and his struggle to salvage what he can and assess/fix the damage. In the flood his radio and the boat's batteries are destroyed thus cutting him off from communication and control of his boat. He does a rough patch job of the whole in the side of the ship and pumps out what water got into the boat but a harsh storm follows and flips the boat and capsizing it. Our Man is able to get an inflatable safety raft blown up beford hand and once away from the sinking ship, he slowly and carefully gathers what he can from it including much need water and food among other supplies. For the next several days he must ration his food and water and he charts a norther course where he is being carried to in the raft. The most frustrating part is that cargo ships pass him, several of them, but he isn't able to get their attention despite his multiple flares and desperate screams with what little voice he has left. Hit last ditch effort to get what seems to be the last cargo ship's , his water has been compromised and thus his time cut even shorter, attention he sets a fire in his raft. It very quickly gets out of control and he is forced to jump off as it consumes the raft and he slowly sinks below the ocean as the world and life slowly fades away. Will the ship see him and save him before he inevitably drowns or will he simply be another lost soul that the great oceans of Earth have claimed?

Over the course of the film there is only a small handful of dialogue. Most of the running time is spend simply observing Redford in his struggle for survival and nature's unrelenting and merciless assault upon him. Still, Redford commands the screen and his plight is both honest and very believable. It says something about an actor when you can control the screen without dialogue and still hold the viewer's gaze and undivided attention. "All is Lost" is a simple but powerful film and while deliberately paced is a solid and suspenseful film worth your time.