''All Square'' is a 2018 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

John Hyams John Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, best known for his involvement in the '' Universal Soldier'' series, for which he has directed two installments. Hyams is the son of director Peter Hyams. Career Hyams gra ...

. It stars Michael Kelly, Jesse Ray Sheps,

Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in ''Jungl ...

. The film won the 2018 Best Narrative Film Award at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Film Festival.

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 Harris Yulin (born November 5, 1937) is an American actor who has appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Scarface'' (1983), ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), ''Looking for Richard'' ...

), 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 (

), 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. Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as corrupt state senator Clay Davis on the HBO television series ''The Wire'' as well as being a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee. He has also a ...

). Meanwhile, Matt "Smitty" Smith (

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (20 ...

), 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

* Michael Kelly as John Zbikowski * Jesse Ray Sheps as Brian *

as Debbie *

as Scotty *

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film ''That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in ''An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles in ...

as Adam *

Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith became an actress in 1982 afte ...

as Beaches *

as Bob *

as Matt Smith * Five Novogratz

Release

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

References

External links

* {{John Hyams American drama films American baseball films Films about gambling 2010s English-language films Films directed by John Hyams 2010s American films