J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost begins with Robert Redford reading a farewell letter to an unidentified someone. Then it flashes back to a boating mishap eight days earlier. For the rest of the film there is only one character and there are only three more lines. Redford plays a solo yachtsman, adrift in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, who must deal with a disabled (and then shipwrecked) boat, storms and other calamities. All alone. With his survival at stake.
The protagonist is unusually resourceful but his resilience is tested by each catastrophe and the increasing hopelessness of his situation. The entire time, we’re watching only Redford, and gauging his thoughts and feelings from his expression and his actions. It’s a powerful experience.
Chandor showed a lot of promise with last year’s Wall Street thriller Margin Call, and he has another winner with All Is Lost.