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'All Is Lost' is Off The Anchor

"All is lost here except for soul and body," explains sailor Robert Redford in the message-in-a-bottle he drops into the vast Indian Ocean. Set adrift on memory bliss, "our man" Redford is lost alone at sea after he finds his ship, the Virginia Jean, has collided with a shipping container and is filling up with water. Against all odds and perfect storms, our MacGyver sailor fights coming to terms with his maritime mortal future, going into survival mode during the endless summer gone wrong in All Is Lost

Director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) wastes no time and drops the viewer in the ocean from the beginning scene of All Is Lost. Redford's character doesn't need a character intro, flashback, or a Hollywood sob story to connect the audience with the sailor. We instantly root for him to survive because Redford plays it cool like Clint Eastwood - and calm like Marlon Brando. Redford is sharp and on-point, carrying the entire movie without a supporting cast (or tiger) by his side. S.O.S. calls to a distant human contact fail, so Redford uses celestial navigation to determine his location. Our man has been dealt his cards, and he handles the wild ocean without flinching. He's up ship creek. Who wouldn't root for that?

All Is Lost offers unique cinematography; Chandor's close-ups and shaky camera techniques are extremely effective, throwing the audience into the eye of the storm. The director has accomplished making the entire film feel so realistic, and gives us truly breathtaking under the sea shots. Amidst so much struggle, there is so much beauty. Sailors think of their ships as their women, which is why they usually have female names. The ship is their partner that provides their wild spirit an instrument of continuous movement. Robert Redford is nominated for a Golden Globe and will be an Oscar contender in the Best Actor category (which hasn't happened since 1973's The Sting). All Is Lost is the high anxiety water picture of the year. The Virginia Jean may be down, but Redford just looks up. Get lost.

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