8/10
I was surprised at just how much I liked this. It's Robert Redford stranded at sea once his boat and communications equipment are damaged. He's the only actor in the movie (credited as "our man" in the credits, which I enjoyed) and there's barely any dialogue at all. It's a really strong performance, and Redford was a good choice for it - he has a natural believability in the role.
There's just something in his weathered face that suggests that Redford absolutely could have endured something like this at some point. I liked how there was very little grandstanding - no dramatic physical transformation, no "I have fire!!!!!" moment like in Cast Away. I could have even done without the few "will he or won't he be saved?" moments (the rote scenes you would expect - the radio starts to work then dies, the ships pass by but don't see him). I get they're there for dramatic tension, but I want to see a movie do away with those and just deal with one guy working with what he has in front of him and nothing more - no tawdry flickering hopes for survival. Is that misanthropic?
Anyway my strong feelings about those points made me think I would hate the ending all the more, but I really didn't. I liked how it was done, the way it pleasantly subverted my expectations made me like the film as a whole even more.
I also liked the decision to keep the character almost ultra anonymous. Outside of his opening speech (which is really his farewell, and the movie then rewinds to the events of the preceding 8 days), we don't know anything about the character. Who has he left behind? Who, in his speech, is he apologizing to? And for what? Is anybody waiting for him? Did he leave on good or bad terms with whatever life he had back on land? I'm glad the movie didn't shove those questions in our faces but instead made us pose them ourselves. All the more effective.
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