Win It All

The film doesn’t feel like a fiction. Instead, it plays like one of those great stories you hear late night over beers, and marvel, thinking, “That’s so wild it can’t be true… But I hope it its.”

Win It All is just the latest stellar collaboration between Swanberg and Johnson.... This is their most conventional film in terms of story arc, but it still has a nifty, indie-without-trying-to-be-hipster feel.

This isn’t about the inner mechanics of the game, and it’s not even strictly a film about gambling, per se. It’s a dense character study that rests on the shoulders of Johnson, who delivers his strongest performance to date, casually handling every scene with a magnetism that recalls the likes of ’70s era De Niro or even the aforementioned Caan.

Suffice it to say that what satisfies on one level raises questions on others, and that certain plot points mightn't play as well without someone as charismatic as Johnson putting them across.

Win It All is another Swanberg special that hits upon the most human aspects of a gambler's curse, so perfect for Jake Johnson's leading take.

There’s enough disreputable behavior bookending the righteousness, and enough solid jokes along the way, to make the effort moderately entertaining.

Knowing how it all ends is the main problem with a lot of gambling movies, and Win It All is no exception.

Win It All is yet another solid collaboration between Swanberg and Johnson who delivers his strongest performance to date as the likeable loser.

A solid bit of gambling obsession lite. It's an on-the-surface appealing mix of normal Swanberg character driven talk as plot mixed with a more conventional plot about bottoming out in order to be saved from self-destruction by way of addiction. However, neither of those things elevates the other, and what you have is a pleasing diversion with a solid main performance from Jake Johnson. And what can only count as coup for film in the age of the streaming -- this film premiered on Netflix yet it was shot on 16mm (presumably it will never be shown that way?) but because Swanberg opted for 16 over 35 the grain shows all over the screen and constantly reminds you of its origins.

Jake johnson films are always likeable and thats the problem, they never exceed beyond that. Typical indie film, watchable, nothing exciting

For what it's worth, Win It All brings the experience of the slow pain of gambling losses as they mount throughout the days of a normal person's life. Jake Johnson carries the role of Eddie, a born loser, with charisma. All other players add chuckles and a little bit of drama along the way. However, very little effort is given so that the plot is anything more than ordinary. It really is a shame because it's written and acted with a cool style that is very relatable. From a movie standpoint though, it's almost brutally safe. Finally, it wraps up with a seemingly willful omission of a twist it badly needed.

This has gotten really decent reviews so far, and I honestly can't understand for the life of me why. The film felt slow, plodding, pointless, and unsure of whether it wants to be funny or serious (which is all pretty typical for director Joe Swanberg and his style from what I've noticed.) Jake Johnson further demonstrates his mediocrity as an actor to me in this film, as he simply acts glum and nonchalant from start to finish, with his character coming off as just plain whiny and unlikable, not unlike pretty much every role he's played before. Overall, this simply felt like a boring, pointless film that rips off and aims to be like other far superior gambling/high stakes movies like The Gambler (the far superior original James Caan version), Mississippi Grind, etc., but fails miserably and simply comes off as an awkward and clumsy wannabe.