This film is terribly boring. I like Chandor, I like Redford, I like the premise, but my god was this dull. It also had one of the worst scores I've ever heard--made worse because the music was completely unnecessary and basically took you out of the film. At one point, as the music swells, Redford covers his ears and cowers. I wanted to do the same.
I am not a sailor. But, I thought the character was one of the dumber and least resourceful people I've ever seen on film. Just about every time he tried to do something to fix his situation, I thought, "This man is an idiot. That's not how he should be doing this!" This of course culminated when he decided to light a fire in his rubber raft instead of placing the fire in the very calm water.
I do think that he is supposed to be stupid. At one point he opens a box someone's given him as a gift and finds the navigation tool. This seemed to me like the kind of gift that would only be given to a newbie as a seasoned sailor would probably already have one. (And have learned how to use it before his ship starts going down!)
I can't believe Redford is getting raves for his performance. It was fine, but with no dialogue and basically nothing but worried looks when the water is around his ears (what actor *wouldn't* have that expression with water at their ears?!), I gotta say this is a career low.
I would have given this movie one star, but at one point (when he opens that gift), the character disposes of a gift card without reading it. This was the only compelling piece of filmmaking in the whole movie. If he would have opened that card and read its contents, I probably would have walked out (something I considered doing many times out of sheer boredom). Being a smart enough filmmaker to know that the lack of backstory--though something is hinted at--is more compelling than the opposite earned Chandor the bump to two stars.
I am not a sailor. But, I thought the character was one of the dumber and least resourceful people I've ever seen on film. Just about every time he tried to do something to fix his situation, I thought, "This man is an idiot. That's not how he should be doing this!" This of course culminated when he decided to light a fire in his rubber raft instead of placing the fire in the very calm water.
I do think that he is supposed to be stupid. At one point he opens a box someone's given him as a gift and finds the navigation tool. This seemed to me like the kind of gift that would only be given to a newbie as a seasoned sailor would probably already have one. (And have learned how to use it before his ship starts going down!)
I can't believe Redford is getting raves for his performance. It was fine, but with no dialogue and basically nothing but worried looks when the water is around his ears (what actor *wouldn't* have that expression with water at their ears?!), I gotta say this is a career low.
I would have given this movie one star, but at one point (when he opens that gift), the character disposes of a gift card without reading it. This was the only compelling piece of filmmaking in the whole movie. If he would have opened that card and read its contents, I probably would have walked out (something I considered doing many times out of sheer boredom). Being a smart enough filmmaker to know that the lack of backstory--though something is hinted at--is more compelling than the opposite earned Chandor the bump to two stars.