Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Despite the lack of special effects, computer animation and 3-D (not to mention dialog), All is Lost keeps your attention and your interest. It even holds off on the mood music until the second half. Until then, about the only sounds are the lapping waves against the boat, right beside you in surround sound. Unlike, say Harry Potter or James Bond films, there is real mortal risk for our (unnamed) hero. The outcome is far from guaranteed. Robert Redford is battered by one lousy turn of luck after another, but he just keeps going. It just keeps getting worse and worse. There is only one alternative, and it is always there for him. So to that extent the film is exciting and suspenseful. But there are no guns, no villains and no betrayals, unless you believe God himself is behind this torture. It shows once again that a good story trumps all, a lesson I wish Hollywood would buy into, instead of comic book heroes who we all know must triumph. Great stories have been sorely lacking for a good 25 years. This is a great story. These single focus oeuvres, like biographies, always let if not make the lead shine. And Robert Redford, at 77, is not just an athlete, he's a fine, unstereotyped actor. Very believable. Another reason All is Lost should be on the must-see list. David Wineberg