All is Lost/Last Vegas

Here's my take on a couple of theatrical movies I've seen during the past month that are about as polar from each other as you can get:  "All is Lost" and "Last Vegas"!  Be interested to read your comments and opinions as well!

All is Lost

Could have easily been called "Perseverance", as persevere is what Robert Redford's no-named character was forced to do throughout the movie.  Redford's eight day journey stranded at sea is nothing less than a constant struggle and battle against the elements. Not to mention bad luck, which starts off right away when his boat collides with a large storage container anchored by itself out at sea in the middle of nowhere. The collision rips a large hole in the side of his boat, that, with a little ingenuity, he's able to fix. Watching the Redford character troubleshoot through various obstacles like this using nothing but his imagination and skill is what I enjoyed the most about the movie. Just as important, the character, for the most part, keeps his cool throughout the ordeal. This, I would think, would be crucial to surviving something like this. (Although personally, I would throw in a little prayer as well!)

More bad luck ensues as Redford's already crippled boat sails into what all stranded-at-sea boat movies seem to encounter....a massive storm.  Although lost for just eight days, Redford encounters not one, but two storms!  Very back luck.  Regardless, Redford's boat continuously and relentlessly takes a beating until finally Redford must take alternative action.  The bad luck unfortunately continues when two  boats pass by and don't see him, and salt water gets into his fresh water supply. But, not to be beaten, he simply refuses to give up.

To add to its uniqueness, the first five minutes of the film contains 95% of the movie's dialog as Redford audibly reads the goodbye note he writes on day 8 of his adventure. But is it goodbye?  The story keeps taking us back and forth, and we literally don't find out until the final scene of the movie.
  

Redford is excellent in the role, and just as importantly, believable.  Sure, he's 76 years old, but I've never doubted that he, or any reasonably fit 70+ year old, couldn't actually do anything he did in the movie.  I'm sure there were a few scenes a stunt double was used, but Redford was in the majority of the film, and thus did most of the physical acting that was required. The last thing I'd like to mention is the cinematography.  It was beautifully filmed.  From the underwater shots to the high-in-the-sky views, you get a real grasp of the solitude the ocean can present, and what the Redford character must have felt. Reminded me a bit of "The Life of Pi", as that film incorporated the vast ocean as a character as well.

Using my rating system (1= skip it, 2= rent it, 3= worth a matinee, 4= worth full price), I’d give it a solid “4”.

Last Vegas

I was pretty sure I knew what I was getting myself into when I went to see "Last Vegas".....cheesy, dumb, nothing new.  And I was mostly right.  But I couldn't avoid the cast!  Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline.....four of my all-time favorite actors!  Six Academy Awards trophies and 14 nominations between them! So I had to see it.  The movie certainly had it's highlights, and a few pretty funny scenes.  But it was your typical "the pains of getting old" story.

The four actors play childhood friends who are currently scattered around the country and don't see much anymore.  When one of them, Douglas, announces that he's getting married, the others arrange a bachelor party/reunion in Las Vegas. Once reunited, the jokes really begin to flow.  The storyline in Vegas was nothing memorable, but did have it's moments.  One of the highlights was Mary Steenburgen, who was terrific as a nightclub singer that two of the friends take a liking to. This triangle actually becomes a re-enactment of an event that happened some 50 years earlier between the same two friends.  This backstory was actually one of the better parts of the movie.  And the climax of the current situation provided for me the best scene in the movie where the Douglas character spills out his heart about how he really feels about life and being 70 years old.

Outside of that, I felt the movie was mostly a waste of the talent of four premium actors. But it was kind of fun seeing them all together.  Plus it was probably the only chance for them to actually have a chance to work together, and I'm sure the money was good. So who can blame them?

Using my rating system (1= skip it, 2= rent it, 3= worth a matinee, 4= worth full price), I’d give it a “2.5”.