(l to r) Jorge Drexler as Uriel, Valeria Bertuccelli as Gloria
Directed by: Daniel Burman
Screenplay by: Daniel Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky
Cast: Jorge Drexler, Valeria Bertuccelli, Norma Aleandro, Gabriel Schultz, Luis Brandoni, Paloma Alvarez Maldonado, Lucciano Pizzichini
Running Time: 107 minutes
The most surprising fact about All In, the crazy quilt of the Argentinean comedy in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival, is that it won the award for Best Screenplay. While frequently offering a pleasant time, the film’s energy and color reflecting the whirl of a frenetic Buenos Aires by day, and a bustling neon-lit casino by night, the script founders in its inexplicable detours to nowhere. It’s so encumbered by the extraneous, with a third act that borders on the ludicrous, that it’s puzzling how the Tribeca jury arrived at the decision that this script was the best. Perhaps the Spanish title, “La Suerte en tus Manos” or “The Luck In Your Hands” offers up a clue … for it seems that an inordinate amount of good luck did indeed land in the hands of screenwriters Daniel Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky.
Another lucky shot happened by casting first-time actor Jorge Drexler in the lead. Not unused to fame, having won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2004 (“Al otro lado del río” from The Motorcycle Diaries), the Uruguayan musician is a charismatic fellow who dives into the role with obvious enjoyment.
He plays Uriel Cohan, a slightly neurotic financier and single dad, who has as much good luck with online poker as he does with women. The film opens up as he’s delivering a rapid-fire monologue to his internist (who acts more like a combination rabbi and therapist). He confesses that ever since his divorce, he’s suddenly so much in demand (“it’s like an anthropology study”), that he’s concerned he may inadvertently impregnate one of his dates. (Hasn’t middle-aged urban sophisticate Uriel ever considered using condoms?) He decides that he needs a vasectomy, asap. Given his rush, perhaps a crowd of eager females are knocking down his door this very minute.
[For the full review on doddle, as well as Kimberly's rating, please click here]