Welcome
to another installment of WHAT’S ON
NETFLIX?, where we pick out a film or series currently playing on Netflix
and review it for the fans. Today’s selection is a positively reviews Netflix
Original that debuted at South by Southwest this year….WIN IT ALL.
Win It All is a somewhat dark comedy
film co-written, directed, and edited by Joe Swanberg with New Girl star Jake Johnson starring, co-writing, and producing the
feature. This film tells the story of a character named Eddie who has a severe
gambling addiction and loses a lot of money. When he loses a large sum of money
that doesn’t belong to him he has to shape up and try and find ways to make it
back before the individual notices something is amiss. Aislinn Derbez, Jo Lo
Truglio, and Keegan-Michael Key star alongside Johnson in the film.
Overall,
I found this film to be neither tremendously engaging nor terrible. It is one
of those eminently fine films that I’m not quite sure what to think of. On the
positive side of the ledger, I think the film is well paced and strikes at a
concept in an interesting way that held my attention throughout. Further, I
thought it maintained an interesting voice that set it apart from most movies
of this general type. The film is incredibly anticlimactic, weirdly written and
performed, and generally forgettable, however.
Digging
into the positives, I thought that this film had a voice that was incredibly
unique. It had a wry sense of humor that worked, but also had a real darkness
and drama that made the film engaging to watch. Characterizing this as a comedy
(as some do) feels wrong to me. There is an authenticity to it which, in a
story about a serious addiction, has a dramatic and dark feel to it. I think
the film takes risks and pays them off in a lot of ways. I also thought
Keegan-Michael Key added a pleasant feel the film really needed and greatly
enhanced its overall quality.
The
ending of this film really let me down, however. Generally, the film has a
predictable plot. Despite its uniqueness in tone and style, it doesn’t break a
ton of story conventions. That said, it didn’t execute some of those more “conventional”
moments very well. Notably, the conclusion of the film was a real letdown for a
final act that felt like it was building toward something exciting. I grant it
had a sense of realism that fit with the rest of the story but it didn’t feel
terribly cinematic. Additionally, I thought the performance work was kind of
all over the place and uninteresting. No one phones it in like you might think
someone would on a small feature like this one but no one really stood out
either.
Overall,
this is a film that is neither very bad nor very good. It is a fine diversion
that has some interesting things going on that will keep you involved for an
hour and a half but that you may never think about again after.
Ryan’s
Score: 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment