With only 51 spoken words and no other cast members, Robert Redford delivered one of his final great performances in J.C. Chandor’s Oscar-nominated All Is Lost.

Alone in the Indian Ocean, 1,700 nautical miles from the Sumatra Straits, a man (Robert Redford) awakens to find his 39-foot yacht, the Virginia Jean, taking on water after striking a drifting shipping container. With his radio and navigation tools destroyed, he unknowingly sails into a ferocious storm. Drawing on sheer determination, seafaring skill, and unexpected reserves of strength, he manages to patch the hull and survive the violent tempest.

Stripped of modern instruments, he navigates using only a sextant and nautical charts, hoping ocean currents will guide him into a shipping lane. Battling relentless sun, circling sharks, and dwindling provisions, the seasoned sailor faces the stark reality of his own mortality.

It’s remarkable that after Margin Call, Chandor chose to follow up with an open-water thriller featuring a single actor. The filmmaker grew up around sailing so it was only a matter of time before he tackled sailboats in a movie. With almost no dialogue, All Is Lost relies entirely on Robert Redford’s commanding performance, Alex Ebert’s delicately used but still haunting score, and its Oscar-nominated sound editing to sustain tension and emotion. The film delivers an enthralling, powerful, and poignant portrait of human resourcefulness and perseverance.

What’s particularly fascinating is that, until All Is Lost, no Sundance alumnus had ever offered Redford a role in their films. Redford reflected on this, while partly joking, in the production notes:

“There’s something kind of ironic in that, all these years after starting Sundance and starting the film festival, none of the filmmakers that I supported ever hired me. They never offered me a part! Until J.C.”

In casting Redford, Chandor helped start a trend. Charlie McDowell later cast him in The Discovery, while David Lowery included him in Pete’s Dragon. For what it’s worth, the Russo brothers emerged from the nearby Slamdance Film Festival rather than Park City’s larger festival.

There are many films that one can think about in light of Robert Redford’s passing. His legacy spans decades of unforgettable performances, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, and The Sting, to The Natural, The Candidate, The Way We Were, Ordinary People, and Three Days of the Condor. More recently, he left his mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as World Security Council Secretary Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, paying homage to 1970s political thrillers, and reprised the role in Avengers: Endgame. All is Lost only adds to this legacy of brilliant performances.

What stands out in All Is Lost is how much Redford accomplishes on screen with so little dialogue. Chandor’s script maximizes every word, with one memorable scream and a single use of the F-bomb, keeping the film PG-13. Only an actor of Redford’s caliber could carry such a minimalist narrative, much like Tom Hanks did in Cast Away. Despite this, the film grossed only $13.6 million against its $8.5 million production budget.

All Is Lost spends its 105-minute runtime following the unnamed man over eight grueling days in a battle for survival. Redford carries the screen with remarkable presence, and Chandor allows the camera to linger on him in ways most films rarely do. Even after everything he endures, he still takes the time to shave while his boat sinks. At the start of the film—before a flashback to eight days earlier—he narrates a letter that he places inside a bottle, hoping someone might one day find it. At the time of writing, it is nearly mid-July.

Three 1978 Cal 39 sailboats depicted the Virginia Jean in All is Lost, giving their lives in the Pacific Ocean. One was utilized for open sea sailing and exterior scenes. The second one was used for tight interior shorts. Finally, the third was used for the special effects. Unfortunately for the boats themselves, the film required that the Virginia Jean be sunk.

Ultimately, All Is Lost showcases one of Robert Redford’s finest performances in a career that spanned nearly seven decades, a fitting testament to his enduring talent both in front of and behind the camera.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: J.C. Chandor
CAST: Robert Redford

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions release All is Lost in theaters on October 18, 2013. Grade: 4.5/5

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