ALL IS LOST

See it at the Movies

Joyce and Don Fowler
Posted 10/30/13

ALL IS LOST

* * * *

(Tense lost at sea movie)

First we have two astronauts lost in space (“Gravity”). Now we have a lone sailor lost at sea. Both movies are powerful in their own …

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ALL IS LOST

See it at the Movies

Posted

ALL IS LOST

* * * *

(Tense lost at sea movie)

First we have two astronauts lost in space (“Gravity”). Now we have a lone sailor lost at sea. Both movies are powerful in their own right, and both keep you guessing right to the end.

Robert Redford stars as an aging sailor fighting the treacherous sea and his own physical limitations. It is a brutal battle against extreme odds. Hardly a word is spoken, yet all the emotions, fears, frustrations and physical grunt are there.

The sights and sounds of the sea are everywhere. Anyone who was ever in a sailboat will recognize them, interrupted by moments of silence and occasional background music that never gets in the way.

The movie opens with the man writing a farewell note. We know nothing of his past, present or future. He is just a resourceful sailor using everything at hand to survive.

The sailboat has hit a container, ripping a hole in its side. Attempts to patch the hole are difficult. Water seeps through every possible spot. Storms further damage the boat and his spirits. Sharks circle the ship.

The electronic devices have failed him, leading him to the ancient device of following the stars at night. Two container ships pass right by without seeing him.

And all this happens over nine tense days, with the boat finally sinking and the man ending up in a life raft.

Robert Redford is superb as the senior sailor, showing emotion, frustration and every possible feeling of a man facing death. We won’t tell you the ending, which certainly could have gone in a number of directions, except to say that it is exciting, emotional and realistic.

Rated PG-13, with one strong word used to signify his situation. At the Avon, where good movies play while the garbage gets taken out at the multiplexes (Johnny Knoxville’s “Bad Grandpa”/”The Counselor”/

”Runner Runner”)/

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