ALL
IS LOST Review
By
Darin Skaggs
At
my happiest times I am walking on pathways, listening to my music. There are no cars around not many distracting
noises. It is a peaceful time. Then while on the pathways I could take a
wrong turn or be somewhere new in which I am not familiar with the area. I am then terrified with over dramatic thoughts
that I will never make it home. I might
never find my way back to a place I know. I’m not running around crying,
screaming for someone to save me, but on the inside I’m freaking out. In J.C. Chandor’s new film All Is Lost explores that very fear and
how it’s handled.
All Is Lost is film about the fight for
survival of a lone unnamed seaman, played by Robert Redford. The film opens with a narration by Redford
about how it is too late and how sorry he is.
Then we hear a crash and it cuts to Redford being woken by the noise. He gets up as he sees his boat being filled
with water. It is being filled slowly,
not too bad. Redford spends his time
fixing the hole and emptying the boat of the water. While the water was rushing in, on the count
that the boat was hit by a shipping crate, it has broken all his communication equipment. Therefore he cannot get in contact with the
shore.
He
spends a long time fixing the hole in his boat.
It is in no way boring when he fixes that hole though it may turn off
some people. There are many scenes that are
Redford slowly solving his problems and fixing his boat. It is almost jarring that when the film speeds
up due to a storm. That is not a negative;
those parts of the movie work just as well as the others.
Redford’s
character is so clearly an introvert. He
is far, far away from the world. He does
not seem sad about it, but he does look more comfortable with it. Redford gives one of his most amazing
performances of his career. His
character seems content with his situation, yet also a terrified mess when the
moments get out of hand. Though in those
moments his posture is still in a calm state.
What
makes Redford’s performance so great and worthy of praise is that the script is
nearly wordless. There is monologue at
the beginning, some phrases near the end and one big shouted word in the middle
of the film. So all that Redford has to
let us know what he feels is his facial expressions and his body language. He does this so well, you know what he is
thinking even though he is never screaming “Why!” or “Now here’s my plan.” It is very truthful to the way men act. They don’t panic very often, they don’t like
to express their feelings and they want to do everything themselves.
The
film, while being all about how men treat situations of peril and hardship is
also a very spiritual one. The film has
a few hints here and there that God is looking over this man. We know nothing about him except that he
spends his time in solitude. That is where most people are when they are
spending their time with God. There are
a few visual hints as well that are scattered throughout the film. Even the title suggests a spiritual aspect. God is the one you turn to when “all is lost.”
We
learn very little personal information about this man, though the writing and
acting makes us care about him more than most films do with their main
character. The film is a big adventure
without any big explosions or car chases. Just an honest “Man vs. nature” story
that makes you feel so passionately about the lead.
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