The packaging of this movie in its DVD or Blu Ray form could have blurbs on it like “most realistic depiction of man versus nature” or “the ultimate movie about survival”. Unfortunately that does not automatically means that All Is Lost is a good movie though, something everyone will be able to enjoy. Could you imagine Life of Pi without the animals and narration? Or 127 Hours without the main characters talking to the camera? Buried without the phone? Those descriptions come pretty close to what this movie is. Except for a voiceover at the beginning of the movie this is almost a silent movie. Over an hour in Robert Redford (who I guess plays himself since we don’t get to know anything about the person he is playing) screams “FUUUUCCCKKKK”. Which was about the same thing I thought about the movie not having finished yet.
As for the story there is not a whole lot. It’s about Redford who goes boating when his ship is rammed by a container (which is where the movie starts). As the boat is badly damaged we see him repairing it, eating, go through various storms while trying to stay alive. There really isn’t anything more to it. It is a document of how someone would experience a situation like it, but as a movie I could not get into it. I find a survivor man episode more interesting than this movie (and I’m not even a fan of that show).
This is a movie which to me felt like it was 4 hours long and not any of it captivating. I will have to admit that it was convincingly shot, but that’s about where my positives end. I didn’t seem to be the only one feeling disappointed, because when the movie ended the whole audience started laughing. That’s not a good sign if you have just seen someone struggle to survive for such a long time. I also was not a fan of the ending, which should have gone where it initially seemed to go. But even such an ending would not have saved this movie which was not engaging at all. Robert Redford gives a solid performance, but that can not save this movie. If you like minimalism then this is the movie for you, but it was wasted on me.
Sounds … artistic. Thanks for the warning! I’ll skip this one.
Well, it is a survival story brought down to its most realistic/minimalistic form, which just didn’t manage to get my heart pumping at all.
Y’know, when I saw the trailer I thought, this is only for Redford’s die-hard fans, right? Sorry but I’m not one of those, ahah.
Yeah, I guess you are right about that. I like Redford and his acting was good, but in the end I just look at the fact if a movie manages to entertain me…and this one couldn’t.
Yeah….. thanks for taking the bullet on this one. No desire to watch Redford faffing about on a boat at sea. Sounds boring.
That’s pretty much it. I did think it was boring…