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All Is Lost Reviews

All is Lost is a commendable and engaging motion picture, but also a rare achievement in spare filmmaking.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 22, 2022

With only a man, a boat, and the vast sea, Chandor shows his versatility as a filmmaker by embracing the confines of his environment and making a movie that feels grander than it may be.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

Commanding the screen without his smile and very few words, Redford gives an acting clinic on screen presence in this exhilarating and striking survival drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 26, 2022

The rest of the film is an almost entirely dialogue free exercise in man's determination and will to survive, a harrowing film that sees the tension ramp up as the runtime and specter of death increases...

Full Review | Apr 14, 2021

All Is Lost is about man's struggle against the world and society. The problems that we face as we get older, highlighting that there is never a satisfying or easy answer, that happy endings aren't always guaranteed.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 17, 2021

While the pace may be too slow to keep most viewers involved, All is Lost does have an approach that stands in stark contrast to the slew of big-budget, star-studded, CGI-driven films available at today's multiplexes.

Full Review | Feb 16, 2021

Probably more audacious than it is entertaining, but it showcases Chandor's nimble footed technique and Redford's effortless star power.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 31, 2021

It's an account of perseverance, a tense survival exercise that serves as a cautionary document more than a masterpiece of fiction storytelling.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 3, 2020

Even without dialogue, Robert Redford's performance is quietly mesmerizing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 1, 2020

It is a rare sound film that has learned the extraordinary power of silents -- and it's really very special indeed.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2020

We sense we're watching a veteran actor being pushed to the limit, which neatly coincides with the character's dilemma. Every line in Redford's weather-beaten face seems invested in the struggle.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2019

Hollywood legend Redford holds our attention singlehandedly and though it is only him and the sea, the suspense never flags.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 7, 2019

Redford delivers a tour de force performance to ensure this beautifully simple idea enthralls throughout.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 4, 2019

This is a glorious piece of cinema that revels in the core values of silent film, a tale of man versus nature that speaks to the heart rather than the mind.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Apr 10, 2019

This is a brilliant film with an intense and engrossing plot and an actor who does justice to his extraordinarily demanding role.

Full Review | Mar 19, 2019

All Is Lost's grandiose portrait of honour in struggle is a lucid and indomitable celebration of the endurance of the human spirit that makes for one hell of a ride.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 7, 2019

Unlike similar films, Zemeckis' Cast Away and Cuarón's Gravity, which wrapped up in their contingencies familiarly sentimental undertones, Chandor keeps it pared down and real

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 24, 2018

All Is Lost can be tedious to watch at times but its metaphoric overtones about crisis-driven alienation and determination will certainly float one's boat.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 11, 2018

In any event, the film is a subtle acting exercise and a triumph of cinematography; it is also a tad ho-hum.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Nov 3, 2018

It is a bold and masterful film, and Redford is great.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 22, 2018

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Movie Reviews

In 'all is lost,' plenty to be found.

Ella Taylor

Robert Redford plays the sole character in All Is Lost ; a man who is stranded at sea, on a badly damaged boat — and completely on his own. Daniel Daza/Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate hide caption

Robert Redford plays the sole character in All Is Lost ; a man who is stranded at sea, on a badly damaged boat — and completely on his own.

All Is Lost

Director: J.C. Chandor
Genre: Action, drama
Running Time: 106 minutes

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

With: Robert Redford

(Recommended)

Other than a single shouted expletive toward the end of All Is Lost, the only words we hear from its central character — a sailor adrift alone on the Indian Ocean — come right at the beginning, in a note of apology to unknown recipients for unspecified sins.

That cryptic missive aside, the movie's viscerally terrifying, weirdly ennobling language is all sight and sound. The sailor, known only as Our Man and played by Robert Redford, grunts and pants as he struggles to caulk a deep gash in his sailboat, inflicted by a stray cargo container that's lost its ship and is littering the ocean with Chinese-made children's sneakers.

Global capital bites back, perhaps. But as with several other plum films of this year's Oscar season — Gravity , Captain Phillips — the elements will bite harder. Our Man takes a vicious beating from nature, and the wishful thought crossed my mind that the character might be Jeremy Irons' brutally callous hedge fund manager from director J.C. Chandor's previous film, the underappreciated Margin Call, back on the big screen to get his just deserts.

Not that Our Man is telling. We hear the creak of ropes and the gentle lapping of waves around his bunk. The whisper swells into a roar, accompanied by whistling wind as a storm bears down on his rudderless boat. Loudest of all is the deep silence that tells Our Man he's all alone, his only compass an animal instinct to endure.

As recently as last year's The Company You Keep, in which he painfully miscast himself as a former Weather Underground activist on the run, the 77-year-old Redford was playing implausibly younger men. Here, his weathered face looking like the Grand Canyon, he moves like an old man, accustomed to competence but a touch geezerish, puffing away as he tries to fix every leak, re-establish each malfunctioning connection to the outside world. It's this that gives Our Man his force, and his aching vulnerability. If weather is the movie's showier star, Redford's lack of vanity makes him its taciturn equal.

All Is Lost is as quiet as Margin Call was chatty; at a minimum, you might call this film a procedural. But like the best of the genre, its relentless focus on the material and the practical also gestures subtly at a life of the soul, however battered.

On its face, All Is Lost digs deep into the frontier mythology — specifically calling back to Redford's rugged '70s turn in Sydney Pollack's Jeremiah Johnson -- of the strong, silent American hero doing what he has to do to survive in an arbitrary, indifferent environment.

Yet in other ways the movie refuses standard heroics. We don't know what Our Man has done wrong, or whether his efforts to survive are an attempt at expiation, or even quite what happens to him at the end. The film's denouement can be read in at least two ways.

Tempting though it is to see his struggle as a blunt metaphor for navigating the storms of life itself, the movie seems to be asking something more specific than simply, how shall we live when we know we're going to die some time? It's posing a higher-stakes version of that question: How shall we live when death is palpably at hand? (Recommended)

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All is Lost – review

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All is Lost , JC Chandor's tense disaster movie about a stricken yacht in a wide blue ocean, opens with a bang and then proceeds to undress itself at speed, tossing everything over the side in an effort to stay afloat. Watching it is a little like observing an expert game of Hollywood Jenga, or a neat twist on the Jean-Luc Godard maxim that all you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun. Chandor boils his film down to the bare essentials. He eases out the usual building blocks of cast and dialogue and back-story to leave us with the spartan spectacle of an old man and a boat. About halfway through, he removes the boat.

The old man is played by Robert Redford , 77 last birthday, his sandy hair turning white at the temples. He wakes up one morning to find that his yacht, the Virginia Jean, has collided with a shipping container and is now holed at the waterline. The cabin is sloshing, the radio is dead and he is adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from land. All the old man can hear is the creak of the ropes and the slap of the waves. All he can see is the far horizon: the flat sea meeting the flat sky with barely a join between the two. "All is lost," he concludes, in what must count as the film's most garrulous and expansive moment. "Except for body and soul and a half-day's ration."

Who is this sailor? Where does he come from? Chandor never sees fit to tell us. His hero remains a deliberate stencil, defined solely by the crisis around him and the actions he takes. His film, meanwhile, unfolds as a kind of waterlogged, geriatric version of Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity , without the comforting upholstery of a co-star and context. Ironically, given the abundance of ocean, All is Lost is an entirely depthless drama. Here is a film that exists purely in the moment, bouncing us inexorably from the bad to the worse. There is no journey towards redemption and no cosy life lesson lying in wait at the end. There's just the sea and the sky and the struggle to survive. Chandor's ironclad minimalism has you gasping for air.

One night after the Virginia Jean hits the container full of trainers, a storm blows in and duly snaps off its mast. The sailor is spun around inside the hold like clothes inside a tumble dryer. He is knocked into open water and sustains a cut to his scalp. His one hope, we come to realise, is to chart a course towards the shipping lanes and possible salvation. But the Virginia Jean is hobbled and useless; a tired old body that must be quickly cast off. In the darkness, the storm still raging, the sailor inflates his life raft and cuts the cord. He then watches, battered and sodden, as the yacht goes down without a trace.

Since this sailor has no name, why not call him Robert Redford? This, I think, is what the film implicitly invites us to do. In denying the viewer any character profile, any hint of a back-story beyond the glint of a wedding ring, it encourages us to fill in the gaps with what we know of the actor. You don't cast Redford in a role such as this without being aware of the baggage that he drags in his wake. Chandor knows full well that when we look at his sailor we see the Sundance Kid, fallen on shockingly hard times. We watch the film, at least on one level, as the story of a man named Robert Redford who sets out on a bold new adventure, only to discover that the world has grown wild and his body's grown weak. Before long he is fighting fires on every side. His hair is a mess and his clothes are sopping wet. Chandor sends him huffing and puffing from one fraught set piece to the next, his jaw set, his eyes exhausted. Is Redford even acting here? It must have been a gruelling shoot. He looks pretty much done in.

Once, long ago, Chandor's unnamed sailor was the corn-fed golden boy of American cinema. He played princely Jay Gatsby, a wild west hero and the crusading reporter who brought down Richard Nixon. He had the world at his feet and the Sundance film festival to his name. And yet, in its subtle, knowing fashion, All is Lost takes a lifetime of achievements and throws them into the drink. Chandor's icy, intense and brilliantly unadorned drama recasts the Hollywood legend as a desperate ancient mariner, travelling solo on what may prove to be his last significant voyage. He is battered by storms and blown at speed towards the far horizon. And this, I suspect, is the abiding message of this otherwise message-less film. Happy New Year, all is lost. It was just an illusion and you can't take it with you. Early on, his troubles just begun, Redford stands at the prow and smiles into the sunset. He knows what is coming and is briefly at peace.

All Is Lost
The Observer
Action and adventure films
Robert Redford

Comments (…)

All Is Lost (2013)

User Reviews
He never wears a PFD/life vest, or a survival suit later on. Interesting survival tactics. Our man goes overboard quite often - and even without drowning!
What an idiocy to hold your boat with one line while jumping on a container - no secured line, no PFD. Then instead of securing the line, he holds it with one hand while untying the sea anchor from the container (which was minutes ago strong enough to pull the container away). Then he walks both lines back to the boat as if they were chihuahuas. Argh! Honestly, he deserves to fall between boat and container and lose both lines due to rope burn...
No lever for the manual bilge pump at hand? He carves a piece of wood (probably his flagpole) to be able to pump his vessel empty? Puhleeease.
I understand his shaving ritual - a last trial to exert some control and composure before the sh%$t hits the fan. He seems to consider his options mostly pretty well, but how stupid is it to start switching sails when the storm is blowing already. The main sail - even when not up - seems to be reefed, but we don't see it really being used, and neither is it ever properly tightened to the boom. This costs him rightfully the mast later on.
Instead of using a fully reefed mainsail and a storm jib (or the engine) to keep control of his vessel, he just gets sloshed around and can't maneuver at all. No wonder that he gets the big waves fully on the beam.
He wears only one instead of two tether lines. No jack lines on deck or any click-in points close to the center line of the boat. He attaches himself to the lifelines! Another recipe for disaster. When you go overboard, you almost certainly hang under the water surface and have hardly a chance to get back aboard. Stoooopid. He could be happy if the stanchions broke and release him so that he could make it to the ladder on the stern. But that is probably tied up in a way that he can't release it from the water surface. Another reason to NOT make it.
Instead of a life-sling system he has just an old horseshoe buoy.
A hand-held radio would be very valuable when a ship comes right by. Much better than his cheap flares. BTW: Good try to clean his radio with fresh water, but why does he try to fix the antenna connection on the mast top AFTER his radio is toast?
He jumps (!) without provisions (!) or PFD into his life raft, but leaves it connected, closes the zipper and tried to sleep. If the boat sank, we would be gone, too.
A commenter complained that the boat had no self steering mechanism which would be necessary and crucial for a single handed ocean crossing. The boat definitely had one. You see the wind vane behind the stern pulpit, and you also see a line around the steering wheel axle. The vane breaks off after the first storm, the remnants are still visible.
A commenter complained that the boat had no EPIRB, an "Emergency Position Indicating Beacon". Once activated, it sends out a distress signal per satellite to alert coast guards and passing ships of a disaster at sea. I thought I saw one mounted to the stern pulpit before the first storm. But maybe it was just a man-over-board marker.
Someone said that there was no dodger to stay in the shade and being protected from spray. I thought I saw one - but it was definitely gone after the first storm.

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All Is Lost , Reviewed by Sailors: Six Rules Robert Redford Should’ve Known

By Mary Alice Miller

This image may contain Wood Human Person Robert Redford and Plywood

One message of All Is Lost, J. C. Chandor’s excellent film about an aging sailor fighting for survival at sea, is that the hero suffers even though he does everything right.

At least that’s how it has seemed to critics, who frequently note how the protagonist—referred to simply as “Our Man” in the credits and portrayed with Oscar-worthy grace by Robert Redford—[“clearly has the skill” to ply the open seas alone. ](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/all-is-lost-with-robert-redford-at-sea.html)

My fellow sailing experts and I saw things differently, however. To us, it was apparent that Our Man would have fared better if he’d avoided some rudimentary errors. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

We’ll share our observations in a moment, but first, a word about our credentials: I grew up competing and coaching on the Long Island Sound, and I learned much of what I know from Simon Karstoft Jensen, who competed on the Danish Olympic 49er sailing team (he currently heads up interactive sailing company Halcyon), and Timothea “Timmy” Larr, a 2013 National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee. The three of us saw the film, which is now out nationally, last week.

Had Our Man followed these six simple rules, all might not have been lost.

1. Never intentionally T-bone a large, heavy object. The action begins with Our Man waking up to water gushing in through a hole in the hull formed by a collision with a stray shipping container. There are two problems with this. First, you can feel every subtle shift on a sailboat, so there is no way Our Man wouldn’t have felt the initial impact and immediately woken up. Second, the hole appears to be above the water line, meaning the water wouldn’t have gushed in like that.

Leaving those issues aside, Our Man’s solution to the problem is itself problematic. To release the stuck container, he drops his sea anchor from its edge to lower it into the water. This would be unlikely to work, but it’s also unlikely the container would have gotten stuck in the first place. Then, once Our Man is free, he returns in an effort to retrieve the anchor and crashes bow first into the container. This is not advisable, as a head-on impact could cause an additional, even larger hole in the hull. The proper technique would have been to approach the leeward side of the container, luffing the sails to slow down, and attempt to tie up to the container in order to retrieve the sea anchor.

2. Don’t leave the gaping hole in your hull unattended. Before returning to the container to retrieve the sea anchor, Our Man jibes over, putting the hole on the leeward side to return to the container for the sea anchor. This is dangerous. The proper procedure would be to position the hole on the weather side so that it stays above water. He also should immediately stuff the hole with a mattress, sail, floorboards, or whatever he can find just to fill up that hole. Then he should start bailing the water out with buckets. Pumping by hand leaves him exhausted. If you are in this situation, once you have the boat under control, you triage—check for other leaks. Did the container hit below the water line? Is there water coming in somewhere else?

3. Never switch to the storm jib in the middle of a storm. The time for that is earlier, when the clouds are still rolling in. If you are caught in a storm without a storm jib, it is best to deploy the sea anchor, and then stay below deck.

4. Never remove the boards from the companionway hatch in a heavy storm. If you have to get on deck, go over them. If a huge wave comes over the boat, you risk flooding the cockpit. Our Man removes them several times during the storm, and the results speak for themselves.

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5. Never make an S.O.S. call when you’re not in immediate danger. Because Our Man makes his distress call after the collision, but before the storm, he should make a pan-pan call, not an S.O.S. call. This call is used to signify that there is an issue on board, but not an immediate threat to life or the vessel for the time being.

6. Never, ever drift aimlessly when you can sail toward help. After Our Man makes the S.O.S. call, he does not appear to head in any particular direction. He doesn’t begin tacking toward the separation zone until he is adrift in the life raft, by which point he is dependent on the current to carry him. As soon as he is able to get the boat under control post-collision, he should point his boat toward an area with other boats that can help him. Our Man instead spends a considerable amount of time sailing aimlessly—were the sails even up? We couldn’t tell. He mops the cockpit. He leisurely cooks and eats. He sleeps. He should be actively sailing toward help.

All that said, we do give Our Man points for safety! Timmy, having authored several books on boating safety, is quick to point out that Our Man does follow some important safety protocols. He wears a hat. He deploys his life raft correctly (though we wonder about the timing of it), and when the life raft flips, he correctly flips it back using the proper features of the device.

More bonus points for Redford’s authentic portrayal of the effects of this kind of disaster on the human psyche. As Simon points out, our man’s behavior shifts from calm and collected to desperate and erratic quite believably over the course of the film, though Simon wishes our man would have yelled at the gods the way they do in old books about single-handed off-shore sailing disasters.

The physical effects are spot on, too. Our man’s skin burns and peels from prolonged sun exposure, and he makes sure to soothe and cover the irritated skin on his neck with a wet bandana to prevent further damage. If anyone in the audience is wondering why Our Man doesn’t yell louder at the passing freighters, it’s because he’s intensely dehydrated.

With so many things done right and so many things wrong, it’s impossible to know if the film accurately portrays the role of human error in a predicament of this kind. If any of us were in this situation—and all three of us have certainly been in dire sailing situations—would we make the same mistakes?

Well, maybe. “I don’t know how experienced Our Man was, but certainly there’s the element of fatigue that effects your ability to focus and make good decisions,” Timmy says. We all agree that, under the conditions of the story, Our Man’s mistakes are mostly believable—especially his largest error, which is his lack of preparation. This is the problem that causes the majority of issues on the water.

Our parting advice to would-be solo sailors? You should know how to use a sextant if you embark on a journey of this kind. The storm jib should go up as soon as you see the storm, not during. And if you are in imminent danger and know there is an area with boats nearby, head there as soon as possible. It could save your boat. It could save your life.

Mary Alice Miller

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Movie Review: All Is Lost (2013)

Aaron Leggo
Movie Reviews
6 responses
--> October 30, 2013

All Is Lost (2013) by The Critical Movie Critics

Sailing the seas.

Cinematically speaking, there are few places more moving, more honestly heartbreaking than on the big screen with a lone character struggling to survive. To be lost, stranded in a desolate place is to provide a narrative hook that is immediately intimate and resoundingly relatable. As modern movies like “ Cast Away ,” “ 127 Hours ,” and “ Life of Pi ” attest, there are many ways to approach such a tale, often with hand holding, flashy editing, and glittering CGI. There are audiences for all, but the version that I’ve personally longed for has finally arrived in J.C. Chandor’s perfect picture All Is Lost .

Opening on the water and remaining there for the entire 106 minute running time, Chandor’s movie is concerned with the constantly escalating plight of Robert Redford’s seasoned seafarer. Our unnamed protagonist (fittingly listed in the single credit cast list as “Our Man”) is all by himself on his sailboat somewhere in the midst of the Indian Ocean. And in a wise piece of character definition, Our Man is a guy of few words, tackling almost every situation with a wordless confidence and determination.

The decision to introduce Redford’s character in his element is a brilliant one that not only tightens the narrative structure instantly, but also allows us to meet the man on his terms. There are no distractions, no opportunities for a clumsy launch here. It’s just us and Our Man and the sea. Our role quickly becomes that of the observer who is left to admire and respect the stunning skill that Redford’s mariner possesses and applies to every obstacle he encounters.

Our initial introduction to life on the boat begins with water pouring through a large puncture hole caused by a random shipping container that destructively floated into Our Man’s path. Waking up in knee deep water doesn’t faze our protagonist, but rather sends him into action with almost enthusiastic focus. Up to the deck we go, where we watch as the dialogue-free scene unfolds with Redford smartly putting in motion a rescue effort that frees the boat from its corrugated metal captor. Thankfully, there is no voiceover present to walk us through the motions, no explanation given beyond what can be found in the poignant pleasure of Redford simply working.

This opening scene puts Our Man on another level in this experience, a teacher to our student, but it’s a level that he ascends to without pretension or any hint of artifice. He is so clearly in control of both the boat and his emotions, and Chandor is more than happy to let us just coexist with Our Man, while we watch him perform such important, quiet tasks as mixing the adhesive that he’ll then use to secure the patch for the hole in his boat. If the whole of All Is Lost was nothing but this, I’d be entranced.

Redford occupies every strand of waterlogged soul that his character can claim and carries himself with a convincing attitude that makes questioning his decisions seem an impossibility. It helps that Chandor’s script never insists that its hero become temporarily boneheaded to forward the plot. Every action, every methodical movement on the boat feels like the work of hands that have grasped this hunk of wood and metal for years, resulting in a character that is always believable and a performance that feels authentic right down to its salt-soaked bones.

All Is Lost is exquisite in its seeming simplicity, leaving us with a man who handles everything in soothing stride and would rather tackle every challenge in silence than give himself an encouraging exclamation along the way. I could easily spend a whole movie with Our Man just taking on the sea in fine conditions. He’s such an arresting figure and the opportunity to watch him indulge his passion without any impatient narrative devices clouding the experience is overwhelmingly exciting.

But the conflict keeps coming as the ocean is relentless in its attempts to keep Our Man on his toes. In a smoothly flowing testament to his talent, Chandor prevents the constantly worsening situation from becoming clunkyly episodic. He builds the danger with a natural progression and then unleashes the conflict with a fury that feels completely convincing specifically because Our Man is so prepared to handle it. When a storm rolls in, Redford goes through a scene where he keeps dipping below to retrieve one more piece of clothing or equipment that can further aid him in the battle against the elements. He does this wordlessly, of course, so we get to follow his actions in a manner that leaves room for suspense and surprise.

It is the storm sequence that then elevates All Is Lost beyond its already towering heights. Once the waves start crashing over the bow, what follows is the most immaculately and creatively engaging boat action I have ever seen on the big screen. Chandor lets the water absolutely attack us, putting us in a fascinating situation where we know to trust Our Man’s skills and instincts and yet also fear for his safety in the face of such a brutal beating. We have seen him erase any shred of doubt in his abilities, but the storm is just too formidable a villain to ignore.

The fight of a lifetime.

As his journey unfolds, Chandor goes for thematic depth as he illustrates how Redford’s ailing character is slowly being assimilated by the sea. Without flashbacks to fill us in and only the most minor of hints provided for a backstory, we’re free to make our own conclusions about what brought Our Man to this point, what drove him to keep going, and ultimately where he ends up. Chandor exhibits a kind of directorial focus and confidence that expertly matches the lone seafarer here, refusing to give us easy, obvious answers and anchoring our experience so that we are as much a part of every step of this journey as Our Man is.

The image of a school of fish creating a circle that matches the underwater glimpse of an inflatable lifeboat suggests that the sea is preparing to claim Redford’s character, along with ourselves. When Our Man is passed by a potential rescue ship (full of the kind of containers that first started this journey), it’s easy to write if off that they simply didn’t see him, a speck in this giant ocean, but has Our Man become a ghost, a phantom of the deep? The thematic readings are welcome at this point and Chandor amazingly maintains dramatic focus while also encouraging open-ended interpretations. And so we float, alone on the water, an experience of cinematic solitude that I’ve been aware of before, but never so intimately, so bravely, and so wordlessly. I am in awe of All Is Lost , having found the experience I’ve been looking for in, having now witnessed on the sea of solo cinema a glint of genius that lights up the screen and turns it profoundly upside down.

Tagged: sailor , shark , storm , survival

You and I both know the truth. You just don't admit it.

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'Movie Review: All Is Lost (2013)' have 6 comments

October 30, 2013 @ 10:24 am Arie Barrett

Wow, that is one glowing review!

October 30, 2013 @ 11:04 am VoodooReverend

Seems like an incredibly depressing movie. I prefer to watch movies with a touch more pep.

January 31, 2014 @ 1:54 pm Gilder

I wouldn’t call it depressing but it isn’t pretty. A man’s push to survive against overwhelming odds never is.

October 30, 2013 @ 3:15 pm GreatScott

Not playing anywhere near me.

January 27, 2014 @ 3:10 pm Tim

I loved it. Gravity is getting all the gold but All is Lost is the better of the survivalist tales.

March 2, 2014 @ 12:36 pm Patrick Burke

The ending reminded me too much of ‘Lord of the Flies’ but otherwise this is a riveting movie. Definitely one of the better movies of 2013.

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All Is Lost

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

It shouldn’t work at all, and yet it does, splendidly. Robert Redford, utterly magnificent and giving a virtuoso performance, is alone onscreen. That’s right. Alone. In Gravity , Sandra Bullock has George Clooney for company in space. Even Life of Pi had a tiger. Redford has no one. There is Virginia Jean , but she’s a boat, a 39-footer that Redford’s unnamed character is sailing in the Indian Ocean. Then a floating shipping container rips a hole in the hull. Redford’s got trouble. And we’ve got a movie, a thrilling, nail-biting, pulse-racing adventure at sea that takes the measure of a man.

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All Is Lost is only the second feature from writer-director J.C. Chandor, whose smashing 2011 debut, Margin Call , took the measure of men in suits tackling investment banking. In his latest triumph, it’s just Chandor, 39, putting Redford, 77, through stunts that would shake up the Jackass crew.

Wind, rain, storms, sharks and panic beset this sailor, especially when a life raft becomes his last resort. Everything but dialogue, which is virtually absent. No flashbacks. No backstory. And yet Redford, who can play intelligence, wit and nuance to a camera like nobody’s business, holds us in his grip. It’s a master class in acting.

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All Is Lost Review

26 Dec 2013

106 minutes

All Is Lost

All the best to the poor schmoe who’ll have to trawl through All Is Lost looking for a clip to show if — or, more likely, when — Robert Redford is nominated for Best Actor at next year’s Academy Awards. Oscar clips are, by their very nature, showy, the actor’s equivalent of a compilation of mad footballing skillz on YouTube; they are the epitome of gimme gimme gimme, a CliffsNotes of a performance that should include everything that the Academy usually looks for when handing out its golden gongs. They will usually involve crying, or screaming, or scream-crying, or some kind of ungodly histrionics.

There is nothing like this in Redford’s performance in All Is Lost. Well, there’s a brief moment about two-thirds in when, after help has passed by his unnamed sailor, he has a mini-freak-out. But his voice, ravaged by the sun and lack of water, has gone. There are no cries of “Why me?”, “No, God, no!” or “Khaaaaaaaan!” Instead, Redford’s sailor takes every setback — and there are many, many setbacks in J. C. Chandor’s incredible film; so many that we feel compelled to ask exactly what Redford’s character has done to piss God off — with remarkable, low-key stoicism, trying to plan a way out. And, unlike its far flashier close cousin Gravity (another tale of survival in the harshest environment possible), where Sandra Bullock spends most of the movie talking to herself, Redford does it almost entirely in silence.

Before Chandor’s film screened in Cannes earlier this year, rumour had it that his follow-up to the excessively talky, and excellent, financial drama, Margin Call, had gone entirely in the opposite direction, and was a silent film. It’s not, of course — sound plays a huge part in All Is Lost, letting us know when a squall is about to rage, or when a boat has had a potentially fatal collision with a large cargo container, floating in the middle of the ocean for no discernible reason. But Chandor has deliberately stripped away dialogue, and Redford’s voice. There are about eight lines of dialogue in the whole thing — most of those come at the beginning in a doom-laden voice-over from Redford, seemingly about to give up on the whole shebang, apologising to a family he doesn’t name for reasons he doesn’t divulge. Later, he makes an SOS call. And later still, he rasps the word “help”. That’s it.

Otherwise, Chandor has crafted as pure an action film as can be. Nothing blows up here, save an inflatable dinghy; but everything that Redford does is action, whether it’s something as low-key as trying to repair the hole in his boat’s hull by improvising a patch or deciding what food to salvage, or something as dramatic as being flung into

the roiling ocean in the middle of a storm straight out of Shakespeare. And that this action grips us, despite the absence of dialogue or backstory, is testament to Chandor’s assured, bare-bones direction, and Redford’s performance. Everything we need to know about his sailor is in front of us — he’s an older gentleman who’s cruising around the world in his own yacht, so he’s clearly successful, but a loner; he’s determined, resourceful, and ineffably calm in a crisis. This simple knowledge — along with Chandor’s canny casting of an icon, with so much goodwill in his baggage already — welds us to the sailor’s struggle, compelling us to will him along and prove the opening voice-over, and the film’s very title, a fallacy.

Redford has never been better, conveying everything with looks, gestures, body language. At no point do we catch him acting; instead, he’s simply being . Of course, the poor Oscar clips guy might not agree.

Movies | 23 01 2019

Movies | 12 04 2017

J.C. Chandor Considering Triple Frontier

Movies | 29 06 2015

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clock This article was published more than 10 years ago

‘All Is Lost’ movie review: Robert Redford delivers an astonishing one-man show

It's been a spectacular last few weeks at the multiplex. Between " Gravity ," " Captain Phillips " and " 12 Years a Slave " — to name just a few — even the most casual filmgoer now has reason to rush to the theater every weekend, with the eager devotion of the most compulsive cineaste.

This weekend welcomes yet another must-see to the marquee. " All Is Lost ," a harrowing man-at-sea adventure starring Robert Redford , reprises this fall's theme of protagonists isolated and adrift in the midst of an indifferent, wantonly cruel universe. But writer-director J.C. Chandor distills that idea to its visually purest form yet, in a one-man study of revealing character through action, showing not telling and taking filmgoers on a physical and existential voyage that proves why big-screen movies can still matter.

The beating heart at the center of Chandor's daunting exercise is Redford himself, who plays his nameless adventurer in a virtually wordless performance with the wary determination a generation came to know and adore throughout the 1970s. His still-handsome face is now weathered and aged and grows more painfully sunburned over the course of his character's week-long ordeal, which begins when the boat he's sailing is rammed by an errant shipping container somewhere in the Indian Ocean .

Like those masterful films that have preceded it this year, “All Is Lost” pivots on a random, ultimately terrifying encounter between one person and the mechanistic forces of globalization. But the presence of Redford adds a layer of pathos that surely won’t be lost on the filmgoers who came of age with his golden good looks, as the avatar of a generation contemplates mortality that looms closer by the minute.

Chandor — who arrived on the scene a few years ago with the assured Wall Street thriller " Margin Call " — shows similar confidence and skill, as well as newfound ambition, working on a bravura scale. He filmed "All Is Lost" at the same Baja location as " Titanic ," and his film possesses the same old-fashioned sense of spectacle, all the more impressive for being so self-contained and finely tuned. Because there is almost no dialogue, the film consists mostly of Redford's protagonist thinking and solving problems, methodical, unhurried processes that don't immediately lend themselves to on-screen thrills.

But Chandor’s attention to detail, and the expressiveness and utter believability with which Redford goes about the anything-but-mundane business of surviving, make “All Is Lost” a technically dazzling, emotionally absorbing, often unexpectedly beautiful experience.

Like " Cast Away " and " Life of Pi " before it, "All Is Lost" joins a fine tradition of stranded-survivor narratives. Chandor takes the form one step further: Redford's character, called Our Man in the film's press notes, doesn't even have a volleyball or Bengal tiger to talk to. This is "Life of I," in the deepest philosophical sense of that word, a layer of meaning that Redford never italicizes or underlines, but simply explores through behavior and facial expression.

Swinging his way through the scuttled boat, hoisting himself up to make repairs, squinting into the sun as he devises shrewd ways to find fresh drinking water, Redford never lets one false or vain moment slip through. (When he finally lets rip a profanity most audience members will have been thinking for quite some time, the relief is palpable.) At a time when his 70-something colleagues are trying desperately to prove they’re still hip, macho and please-God relevant, he quietly delivers a one-man master class in the art of screen acting in what is arguably the finest and certainly the bravest performance of his career.

As a celebration of instinct, ingenuity, stamina and resilience, “All Is Lost” is also a celebration of Redford’s career — on and off-screen — in which all those qualities have played such a salient part. The film hovers along that thin membrane between survival and disaster that describes so much of the Hollywood political economy. Ever on guard against the industry’s most seductive blandishments, Redford brings the watchfulness that has served him so well to every moment of “All Is Lost,” infusing what is already a perfectly entertaining adventure with rich veins of symbolism and meta-meaning. Even at the worst of his Joblike trials, it’s impossible not to imagine that Redford will make it: After all, he’s Our Man.

PG-13. At area theaters. Contains brief strong language. 107 minutes.

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All is lost, common sense media reviewers.

Intense lost-at-sea tale with one actor and little dialogue.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

A lone character is faced with a supreme challenge

Very little is revealed about the main character.

The character receives a bloody head wound after a

In a movie with barely any dialogue, the character

The character drinks what looks like whisky in an

Positive Messages

Positive role models, violence & scariness.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that All Is Lost is a lost-at-sea survival movie with only one actor ( Robert Redford ) and barely any dialogue. It has one pointed use of the word "f--k," which, in addition to the intensity of the main character's peril throughout the movie, is the main concern for parents. We see a bloody head wound, which the character treats and bandages himself, and we see the character drinking what looks like whisky in an early scene. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (4)
Kids say (6)

Based on 4 parent reviews

All is Lost - What Not To Do and What to Think About

Intense .great performance, what's the story.

ALL IS LOST begins with our main (and only) character, called "Our Man" in the credits and played by Robert Redford, reading a letter to unnamed loved ones. Eight days earlier, we begin his story. His yacht has crashed into a shipping container, puncturing the side. He repairs it, but before he can get to land, a violent storm further damages things. Eventually he is forced to abandon ship and takes to his life raft. He tries to head for a nearby shipping zone, hoping to be picked up by a large ship, but his luck and resources begin to run out.

Is It Any Good?

Written and directed by J.C. Chandor , whose last movie was the brilliant and wordy Margin Call , All Is Lost is surprisingly spare, almost the polar opposite of its predecessor. It's a highly skilled and impressively unique movie, making use of only about a page of dialogue (the narration of a letter, an attempt to radio an SOS, and one four-letter word), and one single actor ( Robert Redford ). Redford is onscreen at every moment, and he effortlessly pulls off this very physically demanding, commanding performance.

On the downside, the movie recalls two other, similar, lost movies, Life of Pi and Gravity . Unlike the former All Is Lost contains no moments of wonder, and unlike the latter it contains no thrills. It's all business and remains rather grim throughout. It seems more determined to impress than to entertain. However, it succeeds wildly on the first count, which may make it worth seeing for many adventurous teens and parents.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's intensity and level of violence . What is the tone of this movie? Is it thrilling or disturbing? What does it show and not show?

How is this movie different from other kinds of movies about men struggling against the odds? What is different or similar about it?

How does an actor act without dialogue? What kinds of things does Robert Redford do onscreen to convince you that he's playing a character?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 18, 2013
On DVD or streaming : February 11, 2014
Cast : Robert Redford
Director : J.C. Chandor
Studio : Lionsgate
Genre : Drama
Topics : Adventures
Run time : 106 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : brief strong language
Last updated : August 8, 2023

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All is Lost (United States, 2013)

Over a career that has spanned more than a half-century, Robert Redford has played his share of interesting and well-remembered roles, from The Sundance Kid ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ) to Bob Woodward ( All the President's Men ) to Roy Hobbs ( The Natural ) to Tom Booker ( The Horse Whisperer ). It's safe to say he has never portrayed a character quite like the unnamed protagonist of All is Lost . With no co-stars to play off, Redford is figuratively and literally adrift in unknown territory. The premise is simple enough: a man, alone and floating in the Indian Ocean with no working radio equipment and no obvious means of rescue, must struggle to survive or give in to negativity and perish. The challenge lies in executing this effectively and making it compelling for audiences.

Director J.C. Chandor (the writer/director of the underrated Wall Street thriller Margin Call ) makes this all about Redford. The character has no name. He has virtually no backstory or biography. The film begins when his yacht has a bizarre accident in the middle of the ocean and continues from there. The ending can be viewed as ambiguous. Depending on whether you're inclined toward a strictly concrete interpretation or are looking at something more symbolic, the final moments lead in diametrically opposite directions. As a survival tale, this one can be placed alongside movies like Cast Away , 127 Hours , and Gravity , all of which postulate the struggles of a human being placed alone in an extreme survival situation.

There's one critical difference. Tom Hanks had Wilson. Sandra Bullock had George Clooney. Life of Pi 's Suraj Sharma had Richard Parker the tiger. Redford has no one. He speaks rarely, with most of his words coming in a voiceover at the beginning. Without dialogue or other actors, the weight of the entire movie falls upon his facial expressions and body language. Once thought to be among the most handsome actors, Redford has aged well. At 77, he's no longer a sex object, but his craggy, weathered visage is perfect for this sort of part and he can still hold a close-up.

All is Lost is about how human nature rebels against death, even when all hope is vanquished by adverse circumstances. Dylan Thomas would have approved: "Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" At first, when Redford's character is awakened by the sound of an impact followed by water gushing through a hole in the prow of his schooner, his approach his businesslike, his demeanor calm. Even when he realizes his electronic equipment is kaput, he still takes matters in stride. Then the storm hits. This harrowing sequence, which takes up about a quarter of the movie's running length, proves to be a seemingly insurmountable obstacle for the lone mariner. Instead of making long-term plans, he focuses only on the moment. Living for another hour becomes a goal worthy of pursuit. He has all the usual problems: food, water, exposure. But the biggest danger is giving into despair and, as things grow worse and a second storm looms on the horizon, despair seems a reasonable alternative. Yet, even as the last light of hope dims and Redford's face falls, he doesn't give up.

One of the producers called All is Lost an "existential action movie," but it arguably has more in common with TV shows like Surivorman than what is normally associated with "existential." The film is unusual not so much because of its content - the man vs. nature story has always been a popular one, whether in print or on film - but in its restraint. Putting an actor, even an accomplished one such as Redford, alone on screen for more than 90 minutes is a risk. But Chandor's screenplay has just enough variation to keep things lively, and Redford's assured performance keeps viewers concerned about his fate. Ultimately, that's the key: if you don't care about whether the character lives or dies, there's no purpose staying in the theater. And, because Redford plays the part with such commitment, it's hard to lose interest even when Chandor gets all artsy with beautifully framed underwater shots of fish schools.

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Here's All Is Lost's ending scene explained, and if Robert Redford's luckless protagonist survives. A young Robert Redford got his start as an actor with TV shows like The Twilight Zone and movies such as The Chase or This Property Is Condemned , but it was thanks to Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid that he became a movie icon, and he went on to appear in further classics like The Sting , All The President's Men and many more.

He announced his retirement from acting following 2018's The Old Man And The Gun , though his cameo as Alexander Pierce in 2019's Avengers: Endgame - shot before The Old Man And The Gun - ended up being his final screen performance. Redford was quite prolific as a performer in the decade leading up to his retirement, though. One of the best received was 2013's All Is Lost , from director J. C. Chandor. This stripped-back survival drama cast Redford as an unnamed man doing his best to stay afloat when his boat starts to sink.

Related: How Young Robert Redford Became A Movie Star

It may not be up there with the best shipwreck movies - though it's obviously quite different from the likes of The Poseidon Adventure - All Is Lost is a great showcase for Robert Redford as a performer. Redford's character "Our Man" is literally the only person in the movie and has almost no dialogue. All Is Lost follows his character as he tries everything to get out of his situation, from repairing his radio to trying to signal passing container ships, but as the story progresses and his food and water dwindle, his odds get bleaker and bleaker.

All Is Lost's final scenes see Robert Redford's character, who at this point is adrift in his life raft, making one last desperate call for help to a passing ship. He lights a fire to draw attention to himself, but it burns out of control and forces him into the water. The ship passes seemingly without anyone noticing and the man, understandably exhausted, slips below the water. As he sinks, he looks up to see a boat near his burning raft, and a searchlight shining down on him.

This gives him a final push to swim for the surface, where he reaches out to an outstretched hand as the movie fades to white. There are two ways to read All Is Lost's final scene; either Our Man was incredibly lucky and he was saved by a boat, or it's a dying vision and the fade to white symbolizes his death. According to interviews with JC Chandor like this chat with Digital Spy , this was the intended response, as viewers either read it one way or another and whichever they choose is the correct reading for them. Optimists like to think Robert Redford's character survived while pessimists read it the other way.

Next: All Is Lost Trailer: Robert Redford vs. the Pitiless Sea

SR Originals
All Is Lost

RETRO REVIEW: Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark Is as Perfect as It Gets

Indiana Jones is an iconic cinematic character, and Raiders of the Lost Ark remains the best story in his film canon more than four decades later.

When it comes to adventure movies from the dawn of the blockbuster, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark is as perfect as a movie could get. The brainchild of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, the movie began as a homage to old adventure serials from the '30s and '40s before it became a legend in its own right. However one may feel about its sequels, there is no denying the first installment is an irreplaceable piece of cinema.

In the making-of documentary on the home release, Lucas said that his archaeologist adventurer -- originally named "Indiana Smith" -- predates Star Wars . It was only when on a vacation to Hawaii with Spielberg as Star Wars (later renamed to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope ) opened that he and the director of Jaws agreed to team up for the film. Beyond his expert direction, Spielberg's major contribution to the character was changing his surname from "Smith" to "Jones." The character has since become much bigger than his movies in pop culture -- and not necessarily for the better.

Indy's merits as an archaeologist are called into question and rightly so, since the map room at Tanis is a greater archaeological find than the Ark itself. His effectiveness in the film was also debated for decades, spurned on by The Big Bang Theory in a bit of narrative analysis that's more incorrect and reductive than hilarious. However, looking at Raiders of the Lost Ark (the "Indiana Jones" part of the title came later) as a self-contained film, it stands as one of the best in either Lucas's or Spielberg's already impressive oeuvre. While one particular element didn't age so well, the movie is a joy to watch, whether it's for the first time or the hundredth.

Yes, Indiana Jones Affects the Plots of Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana jones' incompetence and mistakes are the movie’s point and part of his appeal, indiana jones' best romance is also his creepiest.

To suggest that Indiana Jones isn't an effective hero because he failed a lot is to completely misunderstand the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark . Perhaps his most heroic act is saving the love of his life, Marion Ravenwood from Major Arnold Toht and his goons. Were Indiana Jones not involved in the story, Toht would've tortured and, most likely, killed Marion, thus leading the Nazis to the Ark of the Covenant even sooner. Much like Princess Leia in Star Wars , Marion is no damsel in distress. She's capable and feisty, and she even saves Indy from being shot in her bar in Nepal.

Truthfully, Indy's relationship with Marion is creepy, given the history stated in the film. Doing the math, Marion would've been a high-school-aged teenager when Jones was her father's student. By today's standards, their wide age gap and romantic past is cause for concern. Of course, in the early 20th Century, it wasn't as uncommon for a 16-year-old girl to be picking out wedding dresses rather than filling out college applications.

Still, Raiders of the Lost Ark is as much Marion's story as it is Indy's. The reason people think Dr. Jones didn't do much to prevent the Nazis from getting the Ark of the Covenant is because Marion is the "treasure" he was really interested in protecting. Even Indy didn't realize this until the movie's end.

Everything You Need To Know About Indiana Jones And The Great Circle

From the movie's iconic opening scene , rolling boulder and all, Indiana Jones is a screw-up. He's book smart, driven and physically capable, but he's also something of a loser. His boyish bravado and machismo could even be read as overcompensation. Indy's heroic feats and awesome fights owed more to dumb luck and sly improvisation than flawlessness and impeccable competence. He was arguably never meant to succeed in finding the Ark before the Nazis. This inevitable failure, in turn, saved his life and made him better.

For one thing, what lets him and Marion survive the Ark's opening is that he had the presence of mind to not look into it. Even if he doesn't believe in the myths and legends, he has enough humility to not stare face-first into the raw power of the gods. Indy's role in Raiders of the Lost Ark was not to be an unstoppable and infallible hero, but to be a flawed yet lovable power fantasy who fought for good.

Indy's bumbling personality and heroism stood in sharp contrast to the Nazis' faux discipline, formalities and inhuman definition of perfection. He defied the Nazis' arrogance by acknowledging that some parts of history were not meant for mortal understanding and meant to be "owned." Most importantly, he showed how there were things more important than the pursuit of absolute power.

Raiders of the Lost Ark's "Plot Holes" Aren't Mistakes

Indiana jones is a classic and mythical hero who demands the suspension of disbelief, is indiana jones based on a real-life archeologist.

After four decades of living with this movie, fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark love to point out its "plot holes." None of them have any real merit in a film that ends with spectral energy melting Nazis in the middle of the desert. The biggest complaint was that Indiana Jones was a bad archaeologist, which is, in fairness, true. A sincere archaeologist would've spent the rest of their career studying the meticulous recreation of ancient Tanis in the map room, after all. Indiana Jones is a product of the era in which his films are set, namely when colonialism was still prevalent. He calls himself an archaeologist, but he's essentially a grave-robber selling treasures for money to Western museums.

Similarly, there is the submarine "controversy" and Indiana Jones's survival on the U-Boat. There is a deleted scene that shows Indy holding onto the periscope just above the waterline for dear life. While this was scrapped for budgetary reasons, there are real-life reasons why the U-Boat wouldn't have fully submerged, especially during peacetime (the movie was set in 1936, three years before World War II began).

Still, the moment where Indy emerges from the water onto the surface of the submarine to the cheers of Captain Katanga and the Bantu Wind crew is one of the films' best. Indy is a headstrong hero racing to save the woman he loves. Who cares how he got from there to the pile of crates and tarps he hides behind the next time fans see him?

Part of what makes Raiders of the Lost Ark such a perfect adventure film is how moments of such unreality don't matter. A grounded story about real-life archeology in the '30s needs such explanations and a fealty to realism, but not in what Spielberg and Lucas called their "Raiders Pictures." Indy is as much a classic mythical hero as Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Despite being a pastiche of past films and serials from the early days of movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark is timeless and changed cinema forever. Unlike the brutal action heroes who followed or the square-jawed leading men of the past, Indiana Jones is an imperfect hero who survives on wits and luck. His achievements demanded a suspension of disbelief, and a surrender to imagination.

Indiana Jones Works Best When His World Is as Imaginary as Star Wars'

Raiders of the lost ark elevated and surpassed the problematic films it was inspired by, 'just goofy all the time': indiana jones 5 star reveals harrison ford's on-set antics.

One of the great things about cinema is how meaning can be found in even the smallest details. Case in point, Raiders of the Lost Ark's iconic "sword fight." When Indiana Jones is met with a skilled swordsman all dressed in black. After a display of his skill, Indy merely draws his gun and shoots the man dead.

This scene gets a laugh because it subverts the audience's expectation for a prolonged fight. What made it even funnier was how it was actually an on-set improvisation because of budget and timing. Yet, the scene can also be interpreted as a troubling metaphor for the real-world way the West used technology, especially guns, to colonize and plunder other nations and continents.

That being said, Indiana Jones doesn't occupy the world audiences do. He lives in a world where the Ark exists, along with Shankara stones, the Holy Grail, crystal alien skulls and a time-traveling dial from ancient Greece. In creating this homage to the problematic serials and films of old Hollywood that othered cultures that were deemed "exotic," Lucas and Spielberg's adventurer means that audiences don't need his outdated predecessors anymore.

10 Smartest Indiana Jones Villains

While this carries through the rest of the saga, Indy's journey from skeptic to believer is a (possibly unintentional way) of subverting the audience's expectations just like Spielberg and Ford did with the swordsman. This pulp adventurer wasn't an extension of his colonial era's white supremacy; he was a righteous but flawed hero who was willing to learn and better himself.

In the movie's opening, Indy loses his prize because he "chose the wrong friends." Belloq was not a good person, and he only wanted these relics for wealth and power, but he at least had enough respect for the indigenous culture to learn their language and use them as his guides. Throughout the film, Indy isn't meant to be some colonizer asserting his will on people, but a curious man who is, at least through Sallah, accepted by the people who are there. After all, when Indy shoots the swordsman, the gathered townspeople cheer.

Indy's character arc through Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels shows that even if he doesn't "win," he survives and enjoys a long life afterward because he comes to respect the power that the belief behind these objects gives them. Conversely, those he fought almost always died as a result of their greed, hubris and unearned superiority complexes.

Raiders of the Ark Is a Fun & Thrilling Adventure That Hits All the Right Notes

Indiana jones would not have endured this long without the maestro, john williams, 'there was no hope': indiana jones actor recalls nearly dying on raiders of the lost ark set.

Just as he did with Star Wars , legendary composer John Williams made Raiders of the Lost Ark work. With the wrong score, the movie's scenes would be as hokey or even offensive as the films that inspired it. Williams' music, specifically the march that became Indy's theme, elevates the film beyond the sum of its parts. Spielberg's direction is masterful, the special effects sequences are legendary, and the performances are pitch-perfect. Yet, only when put to Williams's score do these elements truly take off.

Whether in a crowded theater in 1981 or a high-end TV in 2024, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a film that reaches right into audiences' hearts. The fights and chases brim with fun tension. The cheer-worthy moments are bolstered by the heroic "Raiders March." Even though the audience knows that Marion doesn't die, the second Williams cues her theme, viewers are as mournful as Indy. All these elements create the kind of timeless adventure that kids grow up loving and, when they become parents, show their kids.

While it's not the only great entry in the Indiana Jones franchise , Raiders of the Lost Ark is the only truly perfect one. From its straightforward plot to meticulously shot action, the movie is glorious. If Lucas and Spielberg had left Indiana Jones behind after this film, the industry and fans alike would never have stopped begging them for more of them.

Yet, even for the fan who is disappointed by every successive Indy film, Raiders of the Lost Ark delivers a complete, satisfying adventure. No one knows what the future of Hollywood or blockbuster cinema is in the age of streaming and generative AI. But so long as a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark is available, people will love it and cinema will endure.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on both Disney+ and Paramount+ .

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.

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Home » Reviews » Hollywood Movie Reviews

The Garfield Movie Review: The Adventures Of Our Favorite Lazy Cat & His Lost Father Make For A Fun Time

While simple and predictable, the film offers excellent voice performances by chris pratt, samuel l. jackson, and others, tying all the humor together for a fun time..

Star Cast: Chris Pratt , Samuel L. Jackson , Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, and Nicholas Hoult.

Director: Mark Dindal

What’s Good: The voice performances are pretty good, and they enhance the film’s humor, charm, and emotion to a level that both kids and adults can enjoy.

What’s Bad: The animation is a bit simple, needs more details than other animated movies have been known to show, and the story is also entirely predictable. It is all fine, but don’t expect great surprises or a memorable storyline.

Loo Break: The film is short, and to the point, so there are no long breaks here.

Watch or Not?: Watch only if you need something to watch with your kids or if you are a huge Garfield fan.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 162 Minutes

Since its creation in the 1970s, Garfield has become one of the most recognizable cartoons ever made; the lazy fat cat managed against all expectations to become a fan favorite thanks to his attitude and love for food and sleep, which separates him very much from many other comic strips of its age, and this success allowed the characters to have its own TV series and even his own live-action adaptation. Now, Garfield returns to the big screen with a more conventional animated movie that still has the chance to be charming and fun.

The Garfield Movie Review: Script Analysis

Personally, I never really liked Garfield, at least the version that was introduced to me as a child in his animated TV series; I found him annoying and just plain dull, which is why it was shocking to me that I had fun with The Garfield Movie, maybe because this version of the character is a lot less boring in general, and has a lot more personality than someone who simply just wants to eat and sleep. So, this is the first time I have had fun with Garfield.

This is not to say that The Garfield Movie is a masterpiece, not at all. In reality, it is a very standard CGI animated movie for the times, and it doesn’t push the envelope in any shape or form, but it doesn’t have to; it only needs to be fun, and that it is, even when the script uses a structure and a storyline that is very predictable and sadly doesn’t allow for any big surprises or revelations. Of course, this comes from the point of view of an adult, but for kids, the script’s development might be a lot more impactful.

Nevertheless, both kids and adults will enjoy the humor in the same manner. This is a pretty funny movie in a way that feels innocent and simple but effective, and this level of success in this aspect of the film is definitely a combination of the voice actors’ performances and the jokes themselves, which range from bright to excellent examples of physical comedy.

The Garfield Movie will take Garfield on a journey outside his home, and this development is enough to create a lot of funny situations, as Garfield is definitely domesticated, and being in the wild is just not his thing. The script introduces many funny characters along the way, and while none of them will become instant classics, they serve the movie well by changing the mood and putting Garfield into more uncomfortable situations.

The Garfield Movie Review: Star Performance

The Garfield Movie is filled with stars in its voice roles, and at the center of it is Chris Pratt, who recently had fantastic success in the field thanks to the Super Mario Bros. Movie, one of the most successful movies at the box office last year. Here in The Garfield Movie, Pratt delivers a performance that is more in line with what we are used to from him, while in the Mario Bros. Movie, he was a lot more restrained; here, he is free to go into his charismatic self and give Garfield a much-needed dose of charm without sacrificing his lazy attitude.

Samuel L. Jackson also does a great job as Vic, Garfield’s father, and the other significant characters in the movie. Jackson’s presence is always appreciated; he does his best to reach Pratt’s charm and does it effortlessly. However, it is Ving Rhames in the role of Otto, a bull, who steals every scene he is in. For such a minor role, his character really makes an impression.

The Garfield Movie Review: Direction, Music

Mark Dindal is a very underrated director, and even if it is true that his output as a director has been relatively small, he has some real jewels in that list, like The Emperor’s New Groove and Chicken Little. However, it feels tame compared to those, and maybe it is just that I’m older now than when I saw those films for the first time. So when I watch it, I don’t see anything spectacular, but maybe there is for the kids who will watch it in theaters and have probably seen very few films like this; it is hard to pinpoint something like that from the perspective of an adult, but the fun factor that accompanied his previous work in still, so there won’t be any issue in that regard.

However, the quality of the animation feels a bit simple compared to the work done in many other animated films. It would be insane to ask for something like what has been done in Spider-Man Across the SpiderVerse, and it wouldn’t fit anyway, but the way the movie moves and is framed in every show feels very safe. It would have been interesting to see something more daring here and there, but it is a nitpick, and it won’t affect the movie’s general enjoyment.

The Garfield Movie Review: The Last Word

The Garfield Movie is a fun time at the theater and will be pretty entertaining for kids and adults alike. Still, sadly, it probably won’t become a classic in the same way The Emperor’s New Groove did, not because it is terrible, but because it is too safe, and it doesn’t dare to go the extra mile to create something truly memorable, nevertheless, for the time you will be inside the theater watching it, it will be the charm and laughs to your life.

The Garfield Movie Trailer

The Garfield released on May 17, 2024.

Share with us your experience of watching The Garfield.

For more recommendations, read our The Boy And The Heron Movie Review here .

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Cannes Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is underway with Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act starring Léa Seydoux and Louis Garrel serving as the opening-night film.

This year’s lineup includes major Hollywood premieres like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, Kevin Costner’s first film of a planned four-part series Horizon: An American Saga , Francis Coppola’s long-gestating Megalopolis , Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness in a reteam with Emma Stone, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada and Andrea Arnold’s Bird to name a few.

They are joined by new films from stalwart auteurs including David Cronenberg, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Jia Zhang-Ke, Christophe Honoré, Paolo Sorrentino, Gilles Lellouche, Mohammad Rasoulof and Michel Hazanavicius, Guy Maddin, Noémie Merlant and Oliver Stone.

Read all of Deadline’s takes below throughout the festival, which runs May 14-25. Click on the title to read the full review and keep checking back as we update the list.

Director: Andrea Arnold

Section: Competition

Cast: Nykiya Adams, Barry Keoghan, Jason Buda, Jasmin Jobson, James Nelson Noyce, Frankie Box, Franz Rogowski,

Deadline’s takeaway: Andrea Arnold knows just how to get under our skin. She embellishes the film with fantastical elements, but whether they're really happening or part of Bailey's childlike desperation to believe in anything magical, the film doesn't make clear. But Arnold certainly wants us to know one thing: Bailey will be OK.

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

Director: Tyler Taormina

Section: Directors’ Fortnight

Cast: Matilda Fleming, Michael Cera, Chris Lazzaro, Elsie Fisher, Gregg Turkington

Deadline’s takeaway: It's hard to categorize Taormina's film, and, for some, its freewheeling, indie American Graffiti vibe might take a little getting used to. But Christmas Eve in Miller's Point is a trip for anyone willing to roll with it, and more than cements Taormina as a talent to watch.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes

Director: Nanette Burstein

Section: Cannes Classics

With: Elizabeth Taylor

Deadline’s takeaway: The tapes recorded in 1964 weren't actually lost, but it all makes for a satisfying journey through one of Hollywood's most memorable careers. There is the feeling of intimacy that makes this one special, if not exactly full of new revelations.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Director: George Miller

Section: Out of Competition

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme, Matuse, Goran Kleut, Charlee Fraser

Deadline’s takeaway: With Furiosa , George Miller, now seemingly ageless at 79 (he was 34 when the first Mad Max came out), has perhaps given birth to the greatest Max yet, a wheels-up, rock-and-rolling epic that delivers on the origin story.

Director: Laurent Bouzereau

With: Faye Dunaway

Deadline’s takeaway: You will find yourself with renewed respect for this great star after watching this documentary on her life. Time for a Faye Dunaway retrospective, and this fine film is perfect reason to do it.

Ghost Trail

Director: Jonathan Millet

Section: Critics’ Week

Cast: Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter, Shafiqa El Till

Deadline’s takeaway: On the surface, Ghost Trail uses the traditional tropes of the spy movie, but it isn't exactly thrilling, certainly not in the manner of a John le Carré novel. Closer in spirit to Spielberg's Munich , it's a quietly profound character study about the need for a closure that may never come.

The Girl with the Needle

Director: Magnus von Horn

Cast: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm

Deadline’s takeaway: It is because this story's truths are so stark that this high-wire work succeeds. Magnus von Horn is a masterful talent, and there is plenty of prize potential within his film. It’s an unequivocal and beguiling triumph.

Megalopolis

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf

Deadline’s takeaway: Watching Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire and eating cheese afterwards would be the only way to replicate Megalopolis ‘ fever-dream grandeur, a series of stunning images, carried along by the loosest of plots, that pontificate on the self-destructive nature of humankind, the only species capable of civilizing itself to death.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Director: Rungano Nyoni

Section: Un Certain Regard

Cast: Susan Chardy, Henry B.J. Phiri, Elizabeth Chisela

Deadline’s takeaway: In Nyoni's sophomore film, the focus is the rub between tradition and modernity, using the occasion of a family funeral as the jumping-off point for a slow-burn drama that builds, rather stealthily, to an unexpectedly emotional climax.

Rendez-Vous avec Pol Pot

Director: Rithy Panh

Section: Premiere

Cast: Irène Jacob, Grégoire Colin, Cyril Gueï

Deadline’s takeaway: The journalists in Rithy Panh's film aren't superheroes; their quest for that truth has its own motivations. Yet the importance of their journey to find it cannot be understated. The film might not walk totally fresh ground for Panh, but there is real power in one filmmaker's dedication to re-examining real world horror from many angles over many years.

The Second Act

Director: Quentin Dupieux

Section: Out of Competition

Cast: Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon, Raphaël Quenard

Deadline’s takeaway: Maybe Quentin Dupieux should have paid more attention when he was writing; maybe he should have spent longer in the editing suite. But if the results are always a bit ragged, does it matter? Dupieux might never make a masterpiece, but his slapdash, wild entertainments are irresistible.

When the Light Breaks

Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson

Cast: Elín Hall, Katla Njálsdóttir, Ágúst Wigum, Mikael Kaaber, Baldur Einarsson, Gunna Hrafn Kristjánsson

Deadline’s takeaway: As an opening-night choice for Cannes‘ Un Certain Regard, When the Light Breaks sets a standard for the original and specific vision that is expected of films in this section.

Wild Diamond

Director: Agathe Riedinger

Cast: Malou Khebizi, Andréa Bescond, Idir Azougli, Ashley Romano

Deadline’s takeaway: Riedinger's debut feature approaches her subject with remarkable empathy, taking Liane on her own terms and seeing her surroundings largely through her eyes.

Where to Watch All the 'Indiana Jones' Movies on Streaming Before 'Dial of Destiny'

Welcome home, Indiana!

Already got your fedora and bullwhip ready for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) ? Well, in case you're also a Disney+ subscriber who has been wanting to get caught up on the four prior adventures of Indiana Jones ( Harrison Ford ), we have some good news for you.

Shortly after a little movie called Star Wars changed the industry forever, two future filmmaking legends named Steven Spielberg and George Lucas came up with a wild idea: an action story about a daring archaeologist who saves sacred and supernatural artifacts from those who wish to use them for nefarious purposes. That idea eventually morphed into Raiders of the Lost Ark , one of the greatest action-adventure films ever created, and the introduction of one of cinema's most iconic characters, Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr. Produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Arc proved that the blossoming production company could catch lightning in a bottle twice, now armed with an epic historical fantasy to go along with their ambitious space opera. After uncovering the Ark of the Covenant in his debut feature, Indiana's epic adventures wouldn't end there. In the years that followed, Indy would also explore a cultist-infested crypt in Temple of Doom , discover the location of the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade , and follow the trail of a mysterious civilization in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull . Later this Summer, Indy will embark on a fifth and final adventure with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny , which is expected to be his wildest expedition yet.

Ever since Lucasfilm was purchased by the Walt Disney Company and the House of Mouse introduced the world to their premiere streaming service, Disney+, fans of the series have been expecting to see the four original films become available on the service. Years later, the wait has persisted, until now. All four Indiana Jones films will be coming to the service very soon. How soon, you ask? Well, read below to discover where and how you can experience the Indiana Jones saga so far before Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny swings into theaters this Summer.

Related: You Can Now Dress Like Indiana Jones With US Wings Collection

When Do the Indiana Jones Films Arrive on Disney+?

Announced by Disney on Tuesday, May 16, Indiana Jones will be making his Disney+ debut in just a few weeks. Save the date for an epic binge-watch for when all four Indiana Jones films will be available to stream on Disney+ starting Wednesday, May 31, 2023 . That makes for plenty of time for a marathon as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will release just a month later on Friday, June 30, 2023.

Watch Disney+'s Trailer for the Indiana Jones Films' Arrival on the Service

To celebrate and announce the many adventures of Indiana Jones coming to Disney+, the streaming service released the above thirty-second sizzle reel to reveal the exciting news. It offers only a glimpse of Indy's greatest hits before eager subscribers can see the journeys for themselves on May 31.

Where Are the Indiana Jones Films Currently Streaming?

Prior to the announcement that the iconic films would be coming to Disney+, the four Indiana Jones films had another home, on Paramount+ . This makes perfect sense given that Paramount distributed the original four films before The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm. While the rights to the franchise and future entries in the series now belong to Disney, Paramount still retained the distribution and streaming rights for the existing four films.

Are the Indiana Jones Movies Leaving Paramount+?

Paramount+ subscribers who don't have Disney+ and love the Indiana Jones films can breathe a sigh of relief. The arrival of the Indiana Jones films on Disney+ was made possible by a new partnership between Disney and Paramount. The conditions of that deal stipulate that all four films will not only be coming to Disney+ but will also still be available on Paramount+ for the foreseeable future. Both Disney+ subscribers and Paramount+ subscribers win at the end of the day!

If you already have a subscription to Paramount+, click the following links below to experience Indy's adventures again or see them for the very first time:

Watch Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark on Paramount+
Watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on Paramount+
Watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on Paramount+
Watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Paramount+

How Much Do Disney+ and Paramount+ Cost?

There are several ways to experience the many offerings of Disney+, two of which are solo subscription plans and three of which are bundle options. The solo plans consist of Disney+ Basic, which features limited ads for $7.99 USD per month, and Disney+ Premium, with removes most ads and allows for downloading of select titles for offline use for $10.99 USD per month or $109.99 USD per year. Alternatively, there are three Disney Bundle Options which additionally include Hulu and/or ESPN+. The plans are Duo Basic, which includes Disney+ and Hulu with ads for $9.99 USD per month, Trio Basic, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ with ads for $12.99 USD per month, and Trio Premium, which removes ads from Disney+ and Hulu (but not ESPN+) and allows for downloadable titles for $19.99 USD per month. Keep in mind, these plans are subject to change at an undisclosed date following Disney's plans to merge Disney+ and Hulu .

As for Paramount+, there are two subscription plans available. The first is the Essential Plan, which includes limited ads along with the entire Paramount+ library, live football and soccer, and live news, all for $4.99 USD per month. The second is the Premium Plan, which removes ads apart from live television and includes more live sports, the live CBS station, and the ability to download movies and shows for offline use, all for $9.99 USD per month.

Are the Indiana Jones Films Coming to Theaters Before Dial of Destiny?

While not all the films will be coming to the big screen before Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres on June 30, the movie that started it all will be. For two nights only, Raiders of the Lost Ark will be returning to theaters everywhere on Sunday, June 4, and Wednesday, June 7.

Now, for those of you who really want an Indiana Jones marathon but don't want to sign up for the above streamers, there's one last bit of news we'd like to share. All four movies are available in 4K as a complete Indiana Jones 4K collection and, as an added bonus, Lucasfilm is releasing individual 4K UHD slipcover editions of each of the movies on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. These new 4K editions will cost you around $25 each, and they come with the original poster artwork of each movie. It might not be the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, but they still sound like quite a treasure to add to your home media collection. Here's the link where you can preorder the 4K slipcover edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark :

Pre-Order on Amazon

National News | Review: John Krasinki’s ‘IF’ is charming but…

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National news | paul pelosi attacker sentenced to 30 years in prison, national news, national news | review: john krasinki’s ‘if’ is charming but imperfect, the film is lovely but seems to have too many riches at its disposal.

Bea (Cailey Fleming) and Blue (voiced by Steve Carell) in “IF.”

How do you make a kid’s movie that appeals not only to the kids, but the adults sitting next to them? Most movies try to achieve this by throwing in a layer of wink-wink pop culture references that’ll earn a few knowing laughs from parents but fly nicely over the heads of the young ones.

So let’s credit John Krasinski for not taking the easy way out. Writing and directing (and acting in, and producing) his new kid’s movie, “IF,” Krasinski is doing his darndest to craft a story that works organically no matter the age, with universal themes — imagination, fear, memory — that just hit different depending on who you are.

Or maybe sometimes, they hit the same — because Krasinski, who wanted to make a movie his kids could watch (unlike his “Quiet Place” thrillers), is also telling us that sometimes, we adults are more connected to our childhood minds than we think. A brief late scene that actually doesn’t include children at all is one of the most moving moments of the film – but I guess I would say that, being an adult and all.

There’s only one conundrum: “IF,” a story about imaginary friends (get it?) that blends live action with digital creatures and some wonderful visual effects (and cinematography by Janusz Kaminski), has almost too many riches at its disposal. And we’re not even talking about the Who’s Who of Hollywood figures voicing whimsical creatures: Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Jon Stewart, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Maya Rudolph, Emily Blunt, Sam Rockwell, and the late Louis Gosset Jr. are just a few who join live stars Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming. Imagining a table read makes the head spin.

The issue is simply that with all the artistic resources and refreshing ideas here, there’s a fuzziness to the storytelling itself. Just who is actually doing what and why they’re doing it — what are the actual mechanics of this half-human, half-digital world? — occasionally gets lost in the razzle-dazzle.

But, still, everything looks so darned lovely, starting with the pretty, brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn Heights in New York City, where our story is chiefly set. We begin in flashback, with happy scenes of main character Bea as a little girl, playing with her funloving parents (Krasinski and Catharine Daddario). But soon we’re sensing Mom may be sick — she’s wearing telltale headscarves and hats — and it becomes clear what’s happening.

Bea is 12 when she arrives with a suitcase at her grandmother’s Brooklyn apartment, filled with her old paint sets and toys. Grandma (Fiona Shaw, in a deeply warm performance) offers the art supplies, but Bea tells her: “I don’t really do that anymore.”

She says something similar to her father, visiting him in the hospital (it takes a few minutes to figure out that they’ve come to New York, from wherever they live, so Dad can have some sort of heart surgery.) He tells Bea he’s not sick, just broken, and needs to be fixed. Hoping to keep her sense of fun alive, he jokes around, but she says sternly: “Life doesn’t always have to be fun.”

And then the creatures start appearing, visible only to Bea.

We first meet a huge roly-poly bundle of purple fur called “Blue” (Carell.) Yes, we said he was purple. The kid who named him was color-blind. These, we soon understand, are IFs —imaginary friends — who’ve been cut loose, no longer needed. There’s also a graceful butterfly called Blossom who resembles Betty Boop (Waller-Bridge). A winsome unicorn (Blunt). A smooth-voiced elderly teddy bear (Gossett Jr., in a sweet turn.) We’ll meet many more.

Supervising all of them is Cal (Ryan Reynolds.) An ornery type, at least to begin with, he’s feeling rather overworked, trying to find new kids for these IFs. But now that Bea has found Cal living atop her grandmother’s apartment building, she’s the chosen helper.

The pair — Reynolds and the sweetly serious Fleming have a winning chemistry — head to Coney Island on the subway, where Cal shows Bea the IF “retirement home.” This is, hands down, the most delightful part of the movie. Filmed at an actual former retirement residence, the scene has the look down pat: generic wall-to-wall carpeting, activity rooms for CG-creature group therapy sessions, the nail salon. And then the nonagenarian teddy bear gives Bea a key bit of advice: all she need do is use her imagination to transform the place. And she does, introducing everything from a spiffy new floor to a swimming pool with Esther Williams-style dancers to a rock concert with Tina Turner.

The movie moves on to Bea’s matchmaking efforts. A tough nut to crack is Benjamin (Alan Kim), an adorable boy in the hospital who favors screens and seems to have trouble charging his own imagination (spoiler alert: that’ll get fixed).

There are segments here that feel like they go on far too long, particularly when Bea, Cal and Blue track down Blue’s now-adult “kid” (Bobby Moynihan of “Saturday Night Live”), now nervously preparing for a professional presentation.

Still, the idea that adults could still make use of their old “IFs” at difficult times — and, to broaden the thought, summon their dormant sense of whimsy, as a closing scene captures nicely — is a worthwhile one. And by movie’s end, one can imagine more than one adult in the multiplex running home, checking under the bed, hoping to find a trusted old friend.

“IF”

2 1/2 stars out of 4

Rating: PG (for thematic elements and mild language)

Running time: 104 minutes

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"All is Lost", writer-director J. C. Chandor's sophomore effort following 2011's " Margin Call ", is a tremendous achievement, and as far removed from the earlier film as possible. Chandor's debut feature, which earned him a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Academy Awards, was a claustrophobic ensemble drama that related the bankruptcy of a Lehman Brothers analogue with elaborate, yet somewhat clunky, dialogue. His new film features only Robert Redford as a man stranded in the Indian Ocean, who remains silent for most of the duration.

Chandor's precise approach to conflict and drama is heightened at each new challenge by his technical mastery and formal dedication, buoyed by a bravura performance from Redford, who displays the sort of passionate, no-nonsense rectitude expected from a person willing to cross oceans on his own. "All is Lost" is a reaffirmation that Robert Redford is one of cinema's greatest actors, and an affirmation that Chandor is one of its most promising talents. And it left this reviewer, whose animus towards "Margin Call" had inspired him to label Chandor as a flash-in-the-pan, utterly humbled.

The film begins with a voiceover in which Redford's character, dubbed Our Man in the closing credits, pens a letter of apology to an unknown recipient. Is this note meant for a loved one, or a random soul who might somehow and sometime discover it, or God? It is never made clear. What's extraordinary is that this question is also completely unnecessary. One of "All Is Lost"'s greatest creative judgments is its lack of a backstory. There are no scenes here of contrasting moments of peace on land where Our Man was the lord of all he surveyed, and no half-baked stories about an unfortunate playground accident, either (I'm looking at you, " Gravity ").

A flashback to eight days previously shows the origin of Our Man's troubles, when he discovers that a free-floating shipping container has rammed his sailboat, causing a yawning gash on the side of the craft. At first, Redford's character seems not too uncomfortable with this mishap, but his stoicism is soon tested when a barrage of formidable storms proves the adage that the sea is, indeed, a harsh mistress.

To say more of the plot would be to spoil the joy of watching this magnificent work (in fact, you should also avoid the trailer if you have yet to see it). JC Chandor and Robert Redford have collaborated in creating a modern classic, a survival tale that respects not only its sole character and his natural obstacles, but also the viewer. Chandor plays to Redford's strengths: his battered visage, calm determination, and detachment from the vagaries of a "normal" existence. In return, Redford gives the performance of the latter half of his career in a role that is not just physically, but also psychologically demanding. They are both aided by sterling work from the film's cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco , who manages to create a palpable dichotomy between the vastness of the ocean and the cramped lower decks of the vessel; as well as Alex Ebert's score, which is used sparingly to beautiful effect.

"All is Lost"'s minimalism makes it ripe for being interpreted as a blunt allegory for life. For one thing, its ending will be up for debate in years to come, seeing as it is a bold volte-face both formally and thematically. Nonetheless, it would be a real shame if discourse were to centre on the finale, because it is the entire film that is a real work of genius. Here is a formidable opus whose real spiritual relative is Tennyson's "Ulysses". Yes. "All is Lost" is that good.

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All Is Lost (2013)

Rated PG-13

106 minutes

Robert Redford as Our Man

J.C. Chandor

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'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' review: This 'bromantic' comedy keeps you entertained

The movie delivers solid laughs, making it a satisfactory comedy outing

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil , directed by Vipin Das and penned by Deepu Pradeep, offers a decent dose of wholesome entertainment. Vinu (Basil) finds inspiration in his would-be brother-in-law Anandan (Prithviraj), who encourages him to move past his heartbreak and marry the latter’s sister. Their unconventional relationship since the beginning sparks laughs, as Vinu seems more excited to meet Anandan than his fiancée Anjali (Anaswara Rajan). The meeting scene between the two is particularly hilarious, with a song from an old Malayalam movie as the background score.

The plot takes a humorous turn early on, keeping viewers hooked through the second half. The drama intensifies when Anandan discovers that Vinu's lost love is none other than his wife, Parvathy (played by Nikhila Vimal), whom he had abandoned due to suspicions of infidelity. The drama hits a crescendo in the final scene at the Guruvayoor temple, unfolding quite like an old Priyadarshan movie.

The film may draw comparisons with Prithviraj's debut movie Nandanam due to its title, and the iconic 'Njane Kandullu' dialogue recalled in the movie adds to its charm.

Prithviraj's portrayal of Anandan marks a departure from his recent serious role in Aadujeevitham . While his performance is decent, there are moments where it feels a bit forced. But his chemistry with Basil works well on screen. Basil Joseph delivers a commendable performance, alongside Siju Sunny as his friend. Jagadeesh and Kunjikrishnan Maashu also deliver good performances.

Anaswara Rajan and Nikhila Vimal are forced to contend with underdeveloped characters, as do other female characters in the movie. While the first half keeps audiences entertained, the second half feels somewhat disjointed, with a few performances falling into typecasting, notably by actors like Yogi Babu.

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil delivers solid laughs, making it a satisfactory comedy outing. Despite not reaching the heights of Das's previous work Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey , the comedic chemistry between Basil and Prithviraj shines through, offering moments of amusement, particularly in their bromantic scenes.

Movie : Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil

Director : Vipin Das

Writer : Deepu Pradeep

Cast : Prithviraj Sukumaran, Basil Joseph, Nikhila Vimal, Anaswara Rajan

Rating : 3/5

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What to Know Before Seeing ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’

Who is Caesar? And how did apes learn to talk, anyway? Your burning questions about the “Planet of the Apes” franchise answered.

An ape on a horse looks out into a field.

By Esther Zuckerman

For some, the name “Planet of the Apes” might conjure memories of Charlton Heston in 1968 . But the most recent incarnation of the sci-fi franchise has been going strong since 2011. These “Apes” movies feature no fuzzy costumes or heavy prosthetics, and instead are feats of computer generated performance capture technology.

The latest one, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” (in theaters), is both a direct sequel to its predecessors and a bit of a reboot of the property. Whereas the first three films in this new series took place within a relatively compact timeline, “Kingdom” jumps centuries into the future. And yet, thematically, it is still deeply connected to what came before. So what should you know going in?

Caesar is dead. Long live Caesar.

Directed by Wes Ball, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” takes place “many generations” after the first trilogy of films in this monkey business: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011), “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014) and “War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017). Yet, those movies’ protagonist, Caesar, is perhaps the most important unseen character in “Kingdom.” He’s long dead — we see a glimpse of his funeral — but his legacy as a leader is debated and referred to throughout the plot.

So who is Caesar?

Caesar is a chimp, played by the performance capture king Andy Serkis. “Rise” ( streaming on Hulu ), directed by Rupert Wyatt, introduces Caesar as a baby. His mother was a lab chimp who is killed when she lashes out. The scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) takes Caesar in and raises him himself. (“Rise” is the only movie where humans are more central to the story than apes.) As Caesar grows up it is clear he is remarkably intelligent thanks to the drug that Will has been working on, which is meant as an Alzheimer’s cure. As Will and his team continue to develop the formula it eventually becomes clear that it makes apes smart but unleashes a deadly virus on the human race. (More on that later.) Caesar still has affection for Will and his human caretakers, but he leads an uprising of mistreated apes.

In “Dawn” (on Hulu and Max ), which was directed by Matt Reeves and takes place about “10 winters” after the events of “Rise,” humans encounter Caesar’s camp and ask him to help them restart a dam for their survival. Caesar, being the benevolent leader he is, obliges, but is met with resistance from Koba (Toby Kebbell), an ape who saw the worst of humanity in captivity before his escape. Koba plots to overthrow Caesar by making it look like humans murdered him, and therefore leads a crew of apes to attack the humans’ compound. Caesar, however, survives and must break one of his cardinal rules: “Ape not kill ape.”

Koba’s betrayal leads directly into the plot of “War for the Planet of the Apes” (on Hulu and Max ), another Reeves picture, in which Caesar is being pursued by a vicious human colonel played by Woody Harrelson. Now Caesar is a hardened leader, but is ultimately more compassionate than the homo sapiens he faces off against. As he makes his final stand he is shot with an arrow. The apes are saved, but Caesar dies.

What happens to all the humans?

The drug, ALZ-113, that leads to the development of intelligent apes turns out to be fatal for the human race. At the end of “Rise,” the Simian Flu decimates humanity after first being contracted by a lab worker who then sneezes blood on a pilot, who takes the disease on the road. By “War,” the virus has mutated and is rendering humans mute. As apes are getting smarter, humans are returning to their primitive state. The apes of “Kingdom” are now fully verbal, while humans are (for the most part) silent creatures called “echoes” by the apes. They are essentially wildlife, drinking from watering holes with zebras. In the meantime, apes have fractured into tribes with different traditions. The new hero, Noa (Owen Teague), belongs to a group that raises and trains eagles.

What is Caesar’s symbol?

Throughout “Kingdom” there is reference to a circular design representing Caesar. Raka (Peter Macon), an orangutan and scholar of Caesar, wears it around his neck. That is a nod to the window in Will’s house from which Caesar would peer out when was just a young ape, a symbol of hope. How this new crop of apes interprets Caesar’s actions becomes the backbone for the narrative of “Kingdom.” Was Caesar a conflicted friend to humans? Or an ape tyrant? We know that it’s the former, but not all of the primates of the future do.

Is there hope for humanity?

You’ll just have to watch and see.

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All Is Lost movie review & film summary (2013)
"All is Lost", writer-director J. C. Chandor's sophomore effort following 2011's "Margin Call", is a tremendous achievement, and as far removed from the earlier film as possible.Chandor's debut feature, which earned him a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Academy Awards, was a claustrophobic ensemble drama that related the bankruptcy of a Lehman Brothers analogue with elaborate, yet ...
All Is Lost
Rated: 4/5 Feb 28, 2014 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review All is Lost is a commendable and engaging motion picture, but also a rare achievement in spare filmmaking. ...
All Is Lost
All is Lost is a commendable and engaging motion picture, but also a rare achievement in spare filmmaking. Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 22, 2022
All Is Lost
Thu 26 Dec 2013 05.30 EST. J C Chandor's All Is Lost is a quasi-silent movie, or perhaps rather quasi-mute, portraying the ordeal of a lone sailor in a desperate situation: he is played with ...
All Is Lost (2013)
All Is Lost: Directed by J.C. Chandor. With Robert Redford. After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
Movie Review
Movie Review - 'All Is Lost' - Plenty To Be Found The film, from Margin Call director J.C. Chandor, features a forceful performance from Robert Redford as a man stranded alone in the Indian Ocean, ...
All Is Lost
Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, an unnamed man wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas. With his navigation equipment and radio disabled, the man sails unknowingly into the path of a violent storm. Despite his success in patching the breached hull ...
All is Lost
All is Lost, JC Chandor's tense disaster movie about a stricken yacht in a wide blue ocean, opens with a bang and then proceeds to undress itself at speed, tossing everything over the side in an ...
All Is Lost (2013)
Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, "All Is Lost" is a brilliant allegory and, on the ocean surface, a harrowing tale of survival at sea. Films with parallel stories, a film-within-the-film, are quite clever and satisfying. They challenge the audience to find less obvious interpretations.
All Is Lost
October 28, 2013. One message of All Is Lost, J. C. Chandor's excellent film about an aging sailor fighting for survival at sea, is that the hero suffers even though he does everything right. At ...
All Is Lost
All Is Lost is a 2013 action drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor.The film stars Robert Redford as a man lost at sea. Redford is the only cast member, and the film has 51 spoken English words. All Is Lost is Chandor's second feature film, following his 2011 debut Margin Call. It screened Out of Competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. . The title of the film is a nod to E. W ...
Movie Review: All Is Lost (2013)
I am in awe of All Is Lost, having found the experience I've been looking for in, having now witnessed on the sea of solo cinema a glint of genius that lights up the screen and turns it profoundly upside down. Critical Movie Critic Rating: 5. Movie Review: The Counselor (2013) Movie Review: Last Vegas (2013) Tagged: sailor, shark, storm ...
'All Is Lost,' With Robert Redford at Sea
Directed by J.C. Chandor. Action, Adventure, Drama. PG-13. 1h 46m. By A.O. Scott. Oct. 17, 2013. True solitude is a rarity at the movies, for those of us in the audience contending with yakkers ...
'All Is Lost' Review
All Is Lost is only the second feature from writer-director J.C. Chandor, whose smashing 2011 debut, Margin Call, took the measure of men in suits tackling investment banking.In his latest triumph ...
All is Lost Review
All Is Lost boils down the art of filmmaking to the essential parts, making even the slightest decisions evident and powerful. The movie wouldn't be as emotional without a boat design that feels ...
All Is Lost Review
There is nothing like this in Redford's performance in All Is Lost. Well, there's a brief moment about two-thirds in when, after help has passed by his unnamed sailor, he has a mini-freak-out ...
'All Is Lost' movie review: Robert Redford delivers an astonishing one
Like "Cast Away" and "Life of Pi" before it, "All Is Lost" joins a fine tradition of stranded-survivor narratives.Chandor takes the form one step further: Redford's character, called Our Man in ...
All Is Lost Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 4 ): Kids say ( 6 ): Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, whose last movie was the brilliant and wordy Margin Call, All Is Lost is surprisingly spare, almost the polar opposite of its predecessor. It's a highly skilled and impressively unique movie, making use of only about a page of dialogue (the narration of a ...
All is Lost
The film is unusual not so much because of its content - the man vs. nature story has always been a popular one, whether in print or on film - but in its restraint. Putting an actor, even an accomplished one such as Redford, alone on screen for more than 90 minutes is a risk. But Chandor's screenplay has just enough variation to keep things ...
All Is Lost's Ending Explained: Does Robert Redford's Character Survive?
One of the best received was 2013's All Is Lost, from director J. C. Chandor. This stripped-back survival drama cast Redford as an unnamed man doing his best to stay afloat when his boat starts to sink. How Young Robert Redford Became A Movie Star. It may not be up there with the best shipwreck movies - though it's obviously quite different ...
Movie Review: 'All Is Lost'
The Times critic A. O. Scott reviews "All Is Lost." new video loaded: Movie Review: 'All Is Lost'
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Deadline's takeaway: The tapes recorded in 1964 weren't actually lost, but it all makes for a satisfying journey through one of Hollywood's most memorable careers. There is the feeling of ...
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All Is Lost movie review & film summary (2013)
"All is Lost", writer-director J. C. Chandor's sophomore effort following 2011's "Margin Call", is a tremendous achievement, and as far removed from the earlier film as possible.Chandor's debut feature, which earned him a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Academy Awards, was a claustrophobic ensemble drama that related the bankruptcy of a Lehman Brothers analogue with elaborate, yet ...
'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' review: This 'bromantic' comedy ...
The drama intensifies when Anandan discovers that Vinu's lost love is none other than his wife, Parvathy (played by Nikhila Vimal), whom he had abandoned due to suspicions of infidelity. The drama hits a crescendo in the final scene at the Guruvayoor temple, unfolding quite like an old Priyadarshan movie.
What to Know Before Seeing 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'
What happens to all the humans? The drug, ALZ-113, that leads to the development of intelligent apes turns out to be fatal for the human race. At the end of "Rise," the Simian Flu decimates ...

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