It’s the kind of film that makes you feel compelled to watch and when it’s over you’re as washed out as the man in the boat. The movie All Is Lost has only one person, a boat, a lot of ocean and two lines of dialogue read from a note. Yet it tells a gripping story through the actions and expressions of this stranded boatsman.

An elderly lone experienced sailor wakes up inside his sailboat with the floor ankle deep in water. Exiting the cabin he sees that during the night his boat has struck a stray shipping container. The collision has made a hole above the waterline of the boat, but with water being taken in from the waves it’s starting to list. Calmly he pushes off from the container and patches the hole with a fiberglass patching kit.

Robert Redford stars in ALL IS LOST

Things go from bad to worse when he finds his radio disabled from the water. When a storm crosses his path it nearly sinks the craft making him trapped at sea in the worst way possible. Writer/Director J.C. Chandor (Academy Award nominee for Original Screenplay for Margin Call) keeps his film compelling showing the steps the man takes to try and survive in an unforgiving sea nearly 1400 miles from land. During the nearly two hour film he shows the resilience, tenacity and finally the despair of a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Robert Redford gives one of the best performances of his long amazing career. It’s hard enough to put on a one man show, but with no dialogue it takes brilliance. Here he shows his ability to make you understand the difficulty he’s going through in the man’s ever changing situation. He relays the elderly man’s hopelessness with his boat falling apart and renders the feeling of helplessness having no navigation equipment or communications in the midst of the dangerous forces at sea. It’s the perfect storm; a great script, a fine director and Redford’s poignant acting ability.

A storm threatens the man stranded at sea

There’s not much more I can say without spoilers so I will end this review by saying that Robert Redford deserves a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor, his performance is that good.

All Is Lost has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for brief strong language.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very compelling film with an amazing performance by Robert Redford. (A)

Additional Film Information:
Cast: Robert Redford
Written/Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Genre: Drama, Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief strong language
Running Time: 1 hr 46 min
Opening Date: November 7, 2013
Distributed by: Lionsgate