All Square
Film poster
Directed byJohn Hyams
Written byTimothy Brady
Produced byJordan Foley
Jonathan Rosenthal
Michael Kelly
Yeardley Smith
Ben Cornwell
StarringMichael Kelly
Jesse Ray Sheps
Pamela Adlon
Isiah Whitlock Jr.
CinematographyYaron Levy
Music bySteve Dueck, Max Knouse, Michael Krasner, Robin Vining
Production
companies
Mill House Motion Pictures
Paper Clip
Release dates
  • 10 March 2018 (2018-03-10) (South by Southwest Film Festival)
  • 12 October 2018 (2018-10-12)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

All Square is a 2018 American drama film directed by John Hyams.[1] It stars Michael Kelly, Jesse Ray Sheps, Pamela Adlon. The film won the 2018 Best Narrative Film Award at the SXSW Film Festival.[2]

Premise

John "Zibs" Zbikowski (Michael Kelly) is a down-on-his-luck, small town bookie. He abandoned a promising baseball career in his youth to care for his ailing father Bob (Harris Yulin), whose life fell apart after a fatal DUI. Zibs inherited Bob's sports book, but has difficulty collecting on debts from the small-town locals, often stealing from their houses as collateral. After a one night stand with his high school ex-girlfriend Debbie (Pamela Adlon), Zibs ends up babysitting her 12-year old son Brian (Jesse Ray Sheps) the next day. Zibs reluctantly accepts Brian's invitation to his baseball game, and is inspired to start taking bets on the local Youth League.

The scheme is immediately lucrative for Zibs, though it results in unsightly behavior from the coaches and parents at little league games. Zibs starts spending more time with Brian as well, teaching him to pitch. He also introduces Brian to drinking, gambling, and fighting, and has him act as a lookout during home robberies. Debbie becomes wary of Zibs' influence on her son. With the success of the Youth League sports book, Zibs all but abandons his day job as a sheet rock installer, alienating his friend and colleague Scotty (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). Meanwhile, Matt "Smitty" Smith (Josh Lucas), the Little League commissioner who is running for public office, catches onto Zibs' new sports book scheme and tries to blackmail him into shutting it down. Zibs learns from Brian that Smitty is cheating on his wife with Debbie, and leverages this information to keep Smitty quiet.

Brian becomes disillusioned with Zibs' scheme after seeing the increasingly hostile behavior of the Youth League parents. He deliberately throws a huge game, nearly causing a riot to break out on the baseball field. Smitty cancels the rest of the season and Zibs' clients turn on him. After Zibs and Brian have a falling out, Brian breaks into his estranged father Hooper's house, and Hooper puts him in the hospital. Zibs seeks revenge on Hooper, but Bob talks him down from taking action, revealing that his "DUI" was actually the deliberate murder of a man sleeping with his wife. Zibs reconciles with Brian and abandons the Youth League sports book, but admits his behavior is unlikely to change otherwise.

Cast

Release

The film was released on 12 October 2018 in the United States.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Kenny, Glenn (11 October 2018). "Review: In 'All Square,' Taking Big Bets on Youth Baseball". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. ↑ Whittaker, Richard. "SXSW Announces Audience Awards". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Leydon, Joe (21 March 2018). "SXSW Film Review: 'All Square'". Variety. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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