All Is Lost
2013
*****
Director: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Robert Redford
An elderly man is on a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean when a shipping container rips a hole in the hull of his boat. With the vessel, radio and navigational equipment damaged, the man faces a storm. J.C. Chandor's second film follows in the footsteps of Life of Pi, but offers a different type of survival story. With a cast of one at sea from beginning to end, Chandor employs purely cinematic tools to create a stripped-down drama which is deliberately paced but absolutely riveting. We learn very little about the nameless protagonist other than that he is a resourceful and resilient man. Robert Redford has about two lines of dialogue, but he commands the screen.
