All In: A weird, dusty romp through 1930s chaos

Is this thing worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much patience you have for old, slightly frantic British slapstick. If you enjoy movies that feel like a chaotic stage play shoved in front of a camera, you'll probably get a kick out of it. If you need a plot that makes sense or doesn't involve people shouting over each other, stay far away. It’s definitely not for everyone, but there’s a strange, dusty charm to the madness.

Archie inherits a stable. Naturally, the first thing he does is gamble the future away. His aunt wants to turn the place into a resort for working girls—which was a bold plot point for the time, I guess? But Archie finds himself deep in the wrestling circuit instead. It’s a classic case of "let’s throw every idea at the wall and see what sticks."

The wrestling scenes are… something else

The wrestling arena stuff feels like it was filmed in a basement. It’s all very sweaty and cramped. You can almost smell the floor mats through the screen. There’s a moment where a wrestler looks directly at the camera, and I swear he looks bored out of his mind. It made me laugh more than the actual jokes did.

Ralph Lynn plays Archie with this frantic, bird-like energy. He’s constantly twitching, adjusting his collar, and getting into debt. You want to reach through the screen and shake him. It’s a very specific brand of 1930s desperation that you don't see much anymore.

The pacing is all over the place. Sometimes the dialogue flies by so fast you lose the plot, and other times the screen just sits there while someone stands in a doorway looking confused. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Flirting Widow, though this is definitely its own beast.

• The supporting cast is packed with faces that just sort of drift in and out.
• The sets look like they might fall over if someone slammed a door too hard.
• The humor relies heavily on people walking into things.

I found myself wondering who actually wrote this. It feels like four people sat in a room, drank too much tea, and tried to outdo each other with the most ridiculous scenarios possible. The scene where they try to fix the wrestling match is a total train wreck. I loved it.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely even a coherent movie by modern standards. But there’s something honest about how much it doesn't care about being "good." It just wants to be loud. Sometimes, that’s all you need on a Tuesday night. 🐎🤼‍♂️