All Is Lost

A movie that will captivate you just like Gravity without having to see it in 3D on a big screen (the only added value of the cinema is the spatial sound of rumbling water or a thunderstorm). Though it is not as sentimentally touching and contemplative as Gravity, it is more exciting and realistic, building on a similarly close look at the thinking process and behavior of its protagonist and finding the way out of situations using the things he has at hand. Even with the bold, more than a hundred-minute running time, the film works without a single boring moment or stumble in telling the story. Robert Redford excels with his believable facial expressions. But the ending shouldn’t have… you’ll see. (24.12.2013)

I originally thought I was going to direct this accusation more at Gravity, but in the end it will fall in the middle of the ocean. This film lacks any added value. The situation is tense, and in terms of craft it more or less very decent (even captivating in places), Redford acts to his last breath, but if I don’t take into account the intense 106 minutes, filled with the sequence of my worst nightmares, then All is Lost is just a very superficial metaphor of loneliness and hope. The character of "our guy" (title label) is very approximate, and it's more about loving Redford's charisma, vitality and economical acting - “fuck" hasn't sounded this authentic on the big screen for a long time. The film consumes almost all the words during the introduction for a rather banal epitaph of the hero, whilst paradoxically the subsequent course does not tell us much about it. In no way does it lack an epic dimension, and the runtime flew right by. What was missing was something vertical (except for the emphasized vistas and camera ceilings). Maybe this is because the film can be read through Redford's personality mainly as the symbolic image of the withering "old America" (which did not impress me), and the challenge to endure to the last Amen, because there is a ray of hope even in absolute darkness. As sung in Alex Ebert's final song: "Old man, the word... raised on golden days, God love the USA". But there is simply something missing here that, with a bit of pathos, I call a universal, and, at the same time, a specific view of exposed humanity, the opportunity to identify not only with the situation, but also with the protagonist. It is powerful, but only when it is happening. Looking back, it slowly but surely disappears like a sailboat with too fragile a hull. [70%] (02.12.2013)

A unique and unusual film based solely on editing and the main protagonist - Robert Redford. Similarly urgent and minimalist as Tom Hanks's Cast Away, or Gravity, except here the hero has even less space, a few square meters to be precise. Although everything seems to be captured authentically at first glance, it doesn't entertain that much, its too slow and contemplative. In the end, only very high-quality craftsmanship remains. (02.07.2014)

Surprisingly good. If we judge the quality of the survival genre solely on the basis of visual satisfaction and maximum visual authenticity, this year's awarded Gravity is obviously well ahead of the rest. However, if we also take into account a films' ability to engage the viewer with the action and a specific atmosphere, the more intimate All Is Lost, by Charon, is a very equal opponent for Cuarón. Even though instead of a spectacular meteor shower we have only a tiny little container, instead of majestic orchestral music we only have remote depressing hope-theme motif playing occasionally, and instead for the infinite cosmos the hero is faced only with a larger puddle, the experience of the appreciative viewer is almost as intense, complex and emotional as in Gravity. On top of that, there's a more likeable survivor who has mastered some really great minimalist acting over a long career. I’m giving it a nice 4*, which, given the low ambitions of the film, I consider the highest possible. )) P.S. I also gave Gravity 4*, just in case.... It’s an excellent film. (23.02.2014)

Awesome Redford under the modest and precise direction of J.C. Chandor. An intense ride from start to finish, when even the viewer descends into deep despair, face to face with the bleakness of the situation. The golden adage “things could always be worse" applies here too. Maybe it’s a bit of a shame that the creator didn’t cross the imaginary line, but it’s true that everybody would have left the theater in a really gloomy mood. One of the movies of the year doomed to be trampled (but unrightfully) by the strong competition. (17.12.2013)