Win It All (2017)

Eddie Garrett agrees to watch a duffel bag for an acquaintance who is heading to prison. When he discovers cash in the bag, he's unable to resist the temptation and winds up deeply in debt.... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Swanberg

Writers:

Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg

Stars:

Jake Johnson, Rony Shemon, Morgan Ng

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Johnson	...	Eddie
Rony Shemon	...	Rony
Morgan Ng	...	Casino Door Man
Edward Kaihatsu	...	China Town Bartender
Adrian Jasso	...	Adrian
José Antonio García	...	Michael (as Jose A. Garcia)
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Ron
Kris Rey	...	Kris (as Kris Swanberg)
Jude Swanberg	...	Jude
Nicky Excitement	...	Nick
Arthur Agee	...	Arthur
Steve Berg	...	Berg
Cliff Chamberlain	...	Paul the Bartender
Keegan-Michael Key	...	Gene (as Keegan Michael Key)
Aislinn Derbez	...	Eva

Storyline

Eddie Garrett agrees to watch a duffel bag for an acquaintance who is heading to prison. When he discovers cash in the bag, he's unable to resist the temptation and winds up deeply in debt. When the prison release is shortened, Eddie suddenly has a small window of time to win all the money back.

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Plot Keywords:

gambling | twelve steps | addiction | anti hero | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

The poker players in the final scene were actual poker players scouted from poker rooms in and around the city of Chicago.

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Quotes

Gene: The fact that you're even thinking about this plan means that that bag is gonna be devoid of money in less than three weeks.
Eddie: Not true.
Gene: Absolutely.
Eddie: There is a happy ending on this one. Absolutely.
Gene: There can't be a happy ending. Because there has never been a happy ending for you.
Eddie: That's a loser's attitude.
Gene: Every story you ever told me, from the day I've met you has been about how you were here and then you ended up here.
Eddie: That's because you're my sponsor. What, am I just gonna tell you my glory ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

There's a mid credits scene.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Amazing Movies You Missed This Spring (2017) (2017)

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Soundtracks

Is There Any Love
Written by Trevor Dandy, Paul Zaza and Gabriel Hasselbach
Performed by Trevor Dandy
Courtesy of The Numero Group
By arrangement with Bank Robber Music

User Reviews

Gambling addicts may not like this melodrama; the rest of the aud will be amused.

"The urge to gamble is so universal and its practice is so pleasurable that I assume it must be evil." - Heywood Broun

Win It All is an unusually dark/light tale of card-gambling addiction because it subverts the usual notion that overcoming the addiction is just a McGuffin plot device. For Eddie (Jake Johnson), it is a matter serious enough to welcome us to join in his pain of avoiding the thing he loves to do and is not good at--gambling.

Eddie is asked to hold a bag while the owner does 6 months' time. Eddie is not to look in the bag, and if he is good about all this, he will earn $10,000. You can guess what happens to this compulsive gambler when he sees the money inside and foolishly convinces himself he can borrow, gamble, and return.

The pleasurable plot is that this rudderless gambler really tries to go straight, with some side roads to gambling, while his brother, Ron (Joe Lo Truglio) and sweetheart, Eva (Aislinn Derbez) try to coax him the right way. The story is never easy to figure ahead because he is such a loose cannon, capable of screwing up any good thing he starts.

Director Joe Swanberg lets us like Eddie while we're fearful of his ability to fall. We try not to invest in him, but he continues to screw up while we root. Eddie is a bit like Adam Sandler's Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems: ready to make a bad gamble at any moment but charming so we care even though we know he will disappoint us all.

The beauty of this 88 min melodrama is Eddie's character and the other characters who hope for Eddie's best. In that way Swanberg and co-writer Johnson create a semi-harrowing tale powered by character that ignores usual formula for gambling films.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Todo o nada

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Forager Films, Garrett Doubles Down, Netflix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1