All Is Lost

J.C. Chandor shot from a 31 page script, with one cast member. The man Redford plays is never named in the film; the credits call him Our Man. Most of the sea is not sea: two months of shooting were in the Baja Studios water tank in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, built in 1997 for Titanic. Chandor says the crew spent only two or three days on the real ocean, far less than the film lets you believe. The sailing press attacked it on realism, counting the missing EPIRB, standard kit offshore, and the decisions the character makes. Chandor answered that all of it could happen, with reservations in two places: the odds of crossing the Indian Ocean single handed, and not steering around the storm with modern equipment. Alex Ebert won Best Original Score at the 71st Golden Globes; Redford was nominated the same night in drama acting, which went to Matthew McConaughey. At the 86th Academy Awards the Sound Editing nomination went to Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns, and Gravity won it. The New York Film Critics Circle gave Redford Best Actor. A good fit if you take hull patching, bailing and sextant navigation as the real suspense. Not for viewers who want an opening that explains who the man is; even the credits give only Our Man.