The trailer for J.C. Chandor’s (Margin Call, A Most Violent Year) All Is Lost was incredible. It shows a man Robert Redford (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), sailing his yacht in the middle of the sea. He has a smile on his face. The sun is shining brightly. The wind is blowing lightly through his hair. The shots of him are broken up by black frame credits that say “Alone at Sea,” “A Man Has Only Himself,” and “His Will To Survive.” And then we go to a shot of him sleeping in his cabin. Seconds later, water comes gushing in, and it’s obvious he has crashed into something. Then we see all hell breaking loose, including high waves, heavy rain, his belongings hitting off the walls as a result of the yacht rocking back and forth, his yacht capsizing, him saying goodbye to his craft from a raft, unsuccessful attempts at making S.O.S. calls, and flare guns shot into the night sky. Critical praise is flashed on the screen, making it seem like this movie might be the most suspenseful movie ever made. Of course, it’s not, but the trailer makes it look that way.
This trailer instantly won me over. I knew that I would be seeing it if this movie got utterly crushed by the critics. When I saw the George Clooney movie The Perfect Storm trailer, I knew I had to see it. I loved that movie. I’ve seen it multiple times. I loved that it was on actual events. I would say I didn’t like it in this particular movie, and others based on true events, are the scenes introduced to Adama improved our connection with the characters. There were quite a few scenes in The Perfect Storm that probably never took place. Everything that happened after radio communication went down is a fabrication. The same can be said about the movie Open Water, another movie that I liked and that was also based on a true story. In this movie, two people scuba diving in the ocean are left behind. We see them stranded in the sea for a couple of days. I enjoyed the drama. I enjoyed the suspense. Some people found this movie maddening. I did not. Nothing confirms anything in this movie except the couple was left behind by the diving boat. For all we know, they both hit their heads on a rock five minutes after they jumped into the water.
All Is Lost is not based on a true story. It’s just a story that could have happened. And because of the problems I stated in my first paragraph, the parts that seemed a little far-fetched, I was more okay with because they weren’t fabricated “What Ifs” like The Perfect Storm or Open Water. For example, Robert Redford has no name in this movie. He is referred to as “Our Man” or “The Man.” We know things aren’t going to go well for him based on the first couple of minutes of the movie. A note that he has written is read aloud. We don’t know who it is written to, but we assume it’s to his wife and children. The words spoken in these two minutes make up about half the words in the movie. After that, there are 30-minute periods where not a word is spoken. This works for a while, but it does grow tiresome. The same can be said for this entire movie. A lot of it works for part of the time, but none for the whole time.
When first hearing the Oscar buzz surrounding Redford’s performance in this movie, I was shocked to hear that he has just one nomination for acting and that that nomination was almost 40 years ago (1974’s The Sting). He has never been my favorite actor by any means. I was looking forward to seeing a few of his movies that I did not like at all (including The Sting, which I know I am in the minority for not enjoying). He is overrated as an actor and slightly underrated as a director. I am happy he has a Best Director award (1981’s Ordinary People). Still, I think that the two best films that he directed have been Quiz Show (which he also earned an Oscar nomination for) and A River Runs Through It (which is an absolute gem of a movie…if you haven’t seen this one yet, close this blog and find it on Netflix or Amazon instant). But this review is based upon something other than Redford as a director. It is based upon the movie All Is Lost and specifically Redford’s performance since he is the only actor in the film.
I liked this movie for the most part. I liked the beginning, but then it got slow. It didn’t get slow in a terrible way where I was waiting for the movie to end (a la The Master, The Tree of Life, among many other films I’ve seen in the theater). But after 46 minutes into this 1 hour and 46-minute movie, I thought, “Okay, I get it. He’s trapped in the middle of the ocean. His ship is sinking. Things are going very poorly for him. He’s doing his best to survive but faces multiple setbacks. And he continues not to say a word. So let’s move this thing along.”
Visually, it is stunning. If you watch this movie (not that I’m endorsing it), you should see it in the theater. The bigger the screen you see, the better the experience will be. However, I can only recommend it if you are an absolute film fanatic or if you try to see all of the movies that will be up for the major awards come awards season. Redford will likely earn a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance. After seeing this movie, I had him in my top five. But not anymore. I have seen five better performances by a lead actor this season. Just because a prominent actor like Redford has only been nominated for an Academy Award for acting once in his career doesn’t mean he should earn another just because he gave an excellent performance. This isn’t a lifetime achievement award. Believe it or not, he’s already won that award…at the 2002 Oscars. Chandor did a pretty good job directing this movie. Together, he and Redford made this movie watchable and, at times, enjoyable. But in the end, it’s just a little too long, and we are left wondering afterward, “What was the point of that movie?”
Plot 9/10
Character Development 7.5/10 (I don’t see enough growth in the lead character)
Character Chemistry NA (therefore, I will divide the total score by nine and add those points at the end)
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 10/10 (stunning)
Sound 6.5/10 (the silence was great at times…but I could only take Redford’s grunting for so long)
Hook and Reel 7/10 (hooks you early but loses steam after 45 minutes)
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
73 +8
81%
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