Mini Review
An unnamed sailor (Robert Redford) wakes on his yacht to discover a gaping hole in the side of his hull and water coming in. He steps outside to survey the damage and discovers a shipping container that had seemingly fallen off a container ship, had drifted into his yacht in the night and made a fairly sizable, but patchable, hole in his vessel. The man is resourceful, as you would expect from someone sailing alone, but his radio is destroyed. So without hope of contacting anyone for help, he patches the hole as best he can and sails on. Matters are made worse when his ship sails straight into storm clouds on the horizon.
The reason I decided to make this a mini review is that I wasn't sure how much I would be able to say about a movie with one actor, and about 5 lines of dialogue in total, other than it's very very impressive. Robert Redford's character doesn't even have a name, but boy do you feel for him in this film. First the yacht gets a hole in it, then he discovers the radio is bust, then the storm. I don't want to spoil it for anyone planning to see the film by telling you what happens next but by god, how much bad luck can befall one man?
His performance is astonishing. Especially when you subscribe to the theory that the biggest part of acting is reacting, usually against other people. There are no other actors on screen, no-one for him to converse with, and yet he holds your attention completely for the entire duration of the film. The additional fact that Redford is 77 years old, and is thrown around like a rag doll on that yacht is another fact that you can't fail to praise him for. I mean I was impressed that Tom Cruise really was climbing up the Burj Khalifa but Redford has 26 years on Cruise. It is just beyond comprehension that he has made this movie.
The only people I wouldn't recommend this to are those who suffer a lot from sea sickness. Everyone else should see it now. 8 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 4th January 2014
UK Release Date - 26th December 2013
Cast Overview:
Robert Redford ~ Our Man
Director/Writer ~ J.C. Chandor
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