After Life of Pi impressed me last year with Suraj Sharma’s fantastic performance and Ang Lee’s direction, I was curious to see what Robert Redford and director J.C. Chandor could do with All is Lost. There’s no tiger, hardly any dialogue, and no actors besides Redford. The critical acclaim got me even more excited and I was ready to see what all the fuss was about. Although the film is a little understandably slow, All is Lost is a visually stunning film that is anchored by one of the best performances of the year.
After a shipping container hits a poor guy’s boat, that unlucky fellow has to do whatever it takes to survive.
Yes my friends, that is the whole plot to All is Lost. Now you can see why the movie is “understandably slow.” Don’t go into All is Lost expecting action or even intensity as it’s just not there. Some scenes are thrilling, sure, but there aren’t too many of them. The movie is about an hour and a half long excluding credits and you’re never bored during the film, there’s just not a lot to this movie which shouldn’t mean you should pass on this one.
Robert Redford is worthy of the praise and Oscar buzz. The man carries a whole movie with hardly any dialogue. Nothing good happens to this guy and as the movie goes on, this guy’s situation gets worse and worse. Redford displays such fantastic emotion as the movie goes on; very reminiscent of Suraj Sharma from Life of Pi and Elijah Wood from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This movie is also a beauty both in camera shots and sound. This is a purdy movie. It’s not on the scale of Life of Pi beauty but it’s certainly impressive. I really hope cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco and director J.C. Chandor get the nominations they deserve. Finally, the sound is just outstanding. There’s hardly any music and is simply the sounds of the ocean. I’m not a sound snob but this was impressive to say the least, making All is Lost the best sounding movie of the year.
THE VERDICT
Just like All is Lost, there’s little to say here. This is a movie worth seeing on the big screen for Redford’s performance, Chandor’s direction, DeMarco’s cinematography, and the sound editing team’s great work. It doesn’t have Life of Pi’s entertainment value but All is Lost impresses as this film doesn’t have the dialogue and visual effects that Life of Pi had. They’re two different films, and both worthy of a viewing.
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