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“All In” revolves around the quotidian life of Uriel, a poker player and divorced father of two. To what extent can he impact his fate? The Spanish-language title of the film, “La Suerte en Tus Manos,” directly translates as “Luck is in Your Hands.”
Uriel is first seen in a doctor’s office, while having a consultation for a vasectomy. This conversation allows him to muse on his life, and to consider the effect the operation would have on his identity as a parent. He reconnects with an old flame, Gloria — but their awkward past intrudes on their present relationship. To appear more attractive to her, he pretends to be a music promoter, not the owner of his father’s finance company. Extending the deception, he jumps through hoops to associate himself with a concert to reunite La Trova Rosarina, a real-life group of musicians who were popular in Argentina in the 1980s. Through a contact he meets at a casino, he uses the “international rabbi connection” to complete the ruse.
With its playbook of rules, poker becomes a laboratory for Uriel’s life. Without risk there is no reward, and fear of failure has no place at the card table.
In his big screen acting debut, musician Jorge Drexler makes a charismatic Uriel. (He won an Oscar in 2004 for a song he composed for “The Motorcycle Diaries”.) Valeria Bertuccelli, a well-known South American actress, is fine as Gloria — but her odd, heavy eyebrows are a distraction. Playing Gloria’s mother, Norma Aleandro, grande dame of Argentine theater and cinema, is a wise and elegant presence as an author on a book tour, who counsels her daughter.
Feature Narrative
Directed by Daniel Burman
Screenplay by Daniel Burman & Sergio Dubcovsky
In Spanish with English subtitles
Runtime: 107 Minutes
Thurs. 4/26, 9:30pm & Fri. 4/27, 9:30pm at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea
