Total Film | All is Lost Review

TF:

As Gravity and next month’s Lone Survivor prove, few things whiten the knuckles like a fight to survive in dire straits. Yet with both those films relying to some degree on big bangs, big budgets, backstory and consolatory companionship, a film starring a 77-year-old may yet have trumped them in stripping survival cinema to the bone.

J.C. Chandor’s follow-up to his surprisingly suspenseful banking yarn Margin Call has it flaws but it also has guts, depth and a star capable of holding the screen without a net.

Without resorting to faux-emotive flashbacks or any get-out clauses, Chandor’s focus on one man and the elements is resolute. And – flashes of repetition aside – enthralling with it.

With no 3D, no friends and no hope, Redford and Chandor show how survivalist instincts can stoke thrilling, thoughtful cinema. If Gravity grabbed you, hop aboard and hold tight.