Director: J.C. Chandor
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 2.0
A sailor (Robert Redford) has to deal with endless adversity after his boat collides with a cargo container: he loses all form of communication to call for help, waves keep crashing against the boat leaving him to try to survive on a life raft, other ships seem to miss seeing him, he sets the life raft on fire in a desperate attempt for help and then ... well, he either dies or is saved at the last second (I'm betting on the former). Without any context and only limited internal monologue, this is a vague, silent affair - unlike the surprising Life of Pi, not much is known about Redford's (presumably wealthy) character or why he's sailing where he's sailing, and the number of ridiculous ordeals he has to endure - and is overall quite pessimistic in tone (we suffer, seek help, are refused help and eventually perish). How someone who can afford a vessel like that and yet not have extra precautions set up to signal for help is highly implausible (in other words, I should not be questioning his tactics at every turn). Wait ... is this actually a metaphor for what's happened to the Sundance Film Festival and independent film in general?
