Win It All
| Win It All | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Joe Swanberg |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Eon Mora |
| Edited by | Joe Swanberg |
| Music by | Dan Romer |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Win It All is an American comedy film co-written, directed and edited by Joe Swanberg. Jake Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay, stars alongside Aislinn Derbez, Joe Lo Truglio and Keegan-Michael Key.
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2017. It was released on April 7, 2017, by Netflix.
Plot
Eddie Garrett is a gambling addict who works odd jobs to support his habit. One morning Eddie comes come to find Michael, a local tough, sitting in his kitchen. Eddie listens as Michael offers him a deal: Michael has been sentenced to six-to-nine months and prison and wants to leave a mysterious duffel bag in Eddie's care. Eddie is to put the bag somewhere and forget about it, when Michael gets out and returns for it he will give Eddie ten thousand dollars in cash. Eddie agrees to the deal and puts the bag in his closet.
A few days later, Eddie gives in to temptation and opens the bag. Inside he finds several odd tools and materials and a large sum of cash. Eddie calls Gene, his sponsor in an addiction program, and asks him to have lunch. At lunch Eddie details his plan to loan himself five hundred dollars from the bag to gamble with. Gene strongly discourages Eddie from taking the money, Eddie finally agrees with him and tells him he won't do it.
Eddie, no longer able to resist, takes the five hundred and gambles it. He manages to win money, and after paying back the bag he invites his friends to celebrate at the local bar. While at the bar Eddie meets Eva, a nurse at a local hospital. They hit it off and Eddie makes plans to see her again. Feeling good, Eddie again gambles and loses all his profit. Eddie begins a downward spiral of gambling that ends with him owing the bag over twenty-one thousand dollars. Desperate, he calls Gene for help and confesses his gambling. At first Gene mocks him, but seeing that Eddie is seriously in trouble he decides to help.
Eddie begins attending his addiction counseling regularly and approaches his brother Ron for a job. Ron agrees to give him a job for six months, and if Eddie works hard and meets his obligations then Ron will loan him the difference to pay the bag back. Eddie shows up to work on time the next day and begins sorting his life out. He regularly pays the bag back and grows closer to Eva, even bringing her to meet his family. After six weeks of hard work Eddie gets an unexpected phone call from Michael in prison. Michael tells him that he's being released early and will be over to retrieve his bag in a week. Panicked, Eddie approaches Ron and begs him for the money to repay the bag but Ron refuses as he believes Eddie still wants to gamble. Eddie gets drunk and loses even more money from the bag before being banned from the casino. Bottoming out, Eddie goes to Gene's house in the middle of the night for help. Gene convinces Eddie to come to the meeting the next day.
After the meeting the next day Gene and Eddie Stop at a diner. Eddie begs Gene to help and Gene finally relents. Seeing no other way out, Gene agrees to get Eddie into a high stakes poker game with the condition that if Eddie goes broke he will leave town. Eddie and a friend drive to the game with the bag and Eddie buys in for fifteen thousand dollars. After losing thirty thousand Eddie takes a break and panics, deciding the game is too wild to beat and that he has to run. He calms down and decides to put the rest of the money in the game at once. After playing for a while he wins a huge pot and is back up with a profit. He wants to continue playing but his friend insists he cash out. Eddie begins to argue but then clutches his chest and collapses. He is cashed out and driven to the hospital where he wakes the next day late for dinner with Eva's family. He talks Ron into driving him to Eva's house, and the movie ends with Eddie happily eating dinner with Eva and her family.
In a mid-credits scene Michael is shown counting the money from the bag and being confused as to why he has four hundred dollars more than he started with.
Cast
- Jake Johnson as Eddie Garrett
- Aislinn Derbez as Eva
- Joe Lo Truglio as Ron
- Keegan-Michael Key as Gene
- Josè Antonio Garcia as Michael
Production
In August 2015, it was announced Joe Swanberg would direct the film, from a screenplay written by him and Jake Johnson.[1][2] It was later revealed Aislinn Derbez, Joe Lo Truglio and Keegan-Michael Key had been cast in the film, and secretly shot in Chicago.[3]
Release
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2017.[4][5] It was released on April 7, 2017, by Netflix.[6]
Critical reception
Win It All has received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 92% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 critics, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[7] It also has an 78/100 on Metacritic.[8]
References
- ^ Koazk, Liz (August 20, 2015). "Jake Johnson Improvised a Whole Dang Movie". Second City. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ Eng, Matthew (August 20, 2015). "NO SCRIPT, NO STUDIO, NO PROBLEM: JOE SWANBERG AND JAKE JOHNSON DISCUSS DIGGING FOR FIRE". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ Lavalee, Eric (November 26, 2015). "2016 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Joe Swanberg's Win It All". Ion Cinema. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ "Win it All". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ Derschowitz, Jessica (January 31, 2017). "SXSW 2017 Film Festival lineup announced". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ "Two Netflix Original Films Bound for SXSW!".
- ^ "Win It All (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- ^ "Win It All Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 7, 2017.