All Is Lost – Film Review

Sailing Film Review

All is Lost (2013): Release date 26 December (UK); Starring Robert Redford; Runtime 106 minutes; Writer J C Candor; Director J C Candor; Certificate PG; Action, Adventure, Drama.

After a collision with a shipping container whilst at sea, a resourceful solo sailor finds himself, despite all his greatest efforts, staring his mortality in the face.

The story starts 1400 nautical miles from the Sumatran Straits with our man, Robert Redford (The Sting, Out of Africa), waking to find water gushing into his cabin through a rather substantial hole.  On further investigation, he finds that he has collided with a shipping container whilst he was taking forty winks.  For the next 106 nail-biting minutes we watch as our man uses all his nautical know-how to try and solve one life-threatening disaster after another.  With no electrical equipment at his disposal and storm clouds gathering, he is forced to think on his permanently wet feet.  Without giving too much away we are kept on the edge of our seats as we wonder how he will survive the next setback and what exactly he did to incur so much wrath from Neptune!

What makes All is Lost unusual is that our man (Redford) speaks very little for the duration of the film.  This does not detract from the enjoyment though and allows you to concentrate on the action.  The story comes across as plausible in the main.  They haven’t given him a brand new boat (it’s a 39′ Cal Yacht).  His sailing skills seem good if a little slow.  Let’s not forget Redford is 76 years old now so I/we probably shouldn’t be expecting the lightening speed of the Sundance Kid!  It does seem as though he knows his way around a deck, this makes his character believable as a solo sailor.   A couple of criticisms, if I had to have any, would be that one scene did seem a little unlikely and a few of the decisions he made seemed a little odd. However, this did not detract from the enjoyment of the film.  Let’s not forget this is only a tale of fiction and who knows how we would act in any given situation, so  I am happy to let these issues slide.

I would wholeheartedly recommend All is Lost to any sailing enthusiasts or even non-sailing enthusiasts alike.  If you can’t make it to the cinema to watch it then it’s definitely worth renting/buying when it comes to DVD and would also make an excellent present for a sailing friend.  One final word of warning……don’t whatever you do watch if you are about to embark on a solo voyage across the Indian Ocean!

All is Lost reviewed by Lovesail Erica