All is Lost

When it comes to the quality of this film, all is definitely not lost. 

Writer and Director J.C Chandor delivers an incredibly realistic survival story set in the vast Indian Ocean.  We are introduced immediately to the only character in the movie (we never learn his name), played by Robert Redford as he wakes to find his yacht damaged by a rogue shipping container floating in the middle of nowhere overnight.  It's nothing but survival from this point onwards as he faces a string of bad luck yet luckily has the Macgyver-esk skills to overcome most obstacles.

A warning to all those action heads out there - this is a very in depth, slow burning movie.  There are only a handful of words spoken and every event is played out in absolute detail and precision as though you were on the boat watching directly.  It is beautifully shot, but one thing they especially nailed was the underwater to above water transitions and vise-versa - absolutely seamless.  Being a single boat in the middle of the ocean, the team could concentrate heavily on creating the perfect sets for in and out of the yacht.  Inside of the yacht was quite spectacular and was even built to be able to capsize which provided some incredible internal action shots during some stormy scene's.

When a movie only has a single character - casting must become the single most important decision I reckon.  If you're not captivated by the character then yes, All Is Lost.   To be honest at first I thought Redford might have been the wrong decision.  He looked almost too far past expiry to pull off the role, quite slow and sore.  That said though, about half way through I was sold.  Fantastic performance.  He never tried to over compensate for the lack of dialogue by over-acting his emotions.  I think the reason why I initially doubted was because it was so different to the usual acting we see but after adjusting and thinking on it, it felt very authentic.  Our reactions when alone are quite different to with company and I think Redford and Chandor nailed it.

I love survival stories.  I remember reading 'Hatchet' in school which was a great little story and then later saw movies like 'Survive the Savage Sea' and of course 'Cast Away' which was just brilliant.  I would compare 'All is Lost' a little to 'Cast Away' in some elements from the time Hanks left the Island.  If you're a fan of this type of stuff also then definitely add to the watch list. I originally gave it a 9 and in lot of area's it definitely deserved but I took it down to an 8 after considering re-watch value.  Will definitely be watching again but will give it a few years I think to recharge ready for the slow burn once again.

8/10

IMDB Info