‘All In – The Poker Movie’ Reviews: Archival Footage Run Through Washing Machine

An advance screening of “All In – The Poker Movie” was held Wednesday night and the reviews are out.

Variety Magazine had this to say: 

The film, which takes a massive detour to the movie "Rounders" (starring Damon) and spends an imbalanced amount of time with some of the principal figures in poker's evolution, simply goes on too long and too windily for anyone but hardcore players. Tirola also seems to have missed an obvious opportunity for narrative coherence: Self-described inveterate gambler Moneymaker, who came out of nowhere to win the 2003 World Series of Poker, is dealt with at length, but his underdog story might also have provided the arc the entire docu needed to get all this unwieldy material into a more palatable form. Of course, this might have brought the film into the realm of cautionary tale; plenty of people have gone belly up playing poker, and the fact that "All In" pays so little attention to its ex-champions belies a game that takes at least as much as it gives.

Production values are generally good, but some of the archival footage looks as if it were run through the washing machine.

Reviews were mixed over at Rotten Tomatoes.

Joshua Rothkopf of  Time Out writes:

All In: The Poker Movie is structured dutifully—of the same disciplined mind as today’s Borglike wave of online enthusiasts—as a serious examination of a lifestyle. Frankly, it could have used a touch more disrepute.

Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times: 

So padded with cheerleading that it doesn't have time for a serious exploration of poker's place in the broader culture or the consequences of its rapid rise and global reach.

- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com