I just caught this off Netflix recently, and loved it! "All In: The Poker Movie" is a must-see for fans and non-fans of the game alike. It goes into the history of the game, and it's recent rise on TV. The film features dozens of interviews with professional players, as well as entertainers like director John Dahl and Matt Damon, who collaborated on the 1998 film, "Rounders"- a movie many say really helped make the game a mainstream interest.The film also goes into the whole concept of this game, a sport like no other- where an amateur can come off the street and play all the professionals- and possibly WIN!?? The movie also shows how the ratings for the sport are becoming higher than all the other major sports- AND, unlike THOSE sports, this one is played all-year round!!??

I apologize ahead of time, and I really don't revel in trashing an indie film. This documentary was made before the so-called "Black Friday" of online poker in 2011. But since it apparently didn't have distribution till after that time, they added footage and attempted to tag on Black Friday and make that be some thru line to the movie. It doesn't work.Primarily because the story is a mess, and there's no thru line in the first place. All this film is, is bits and pieces about poker, with poker pros giving soundbites. It's nothing more than that. Yes, they explore the exponential growth of poker, and attribute it to several factors. But so what? That's not a reason to make a movie about poker. What was the point of this documentary, dear filmmakers? What were you trying to say with this film? Anything?They also used a tremendous amount of footage that was archival footage. But much of it was incredibly blurry, due to horrible resolution. Of course, archival footage isn't going to be 1080p, but *some* of that footage should never have been used. I've never seen any production use archival footage that looked this bad. If it wasn't for the poker stars in this film, it would not have gotten onto Showtime.There was one amusing aspect, I will say. Watching footage of some of these poker stars pre-Black Friday, and hearing what they say... when later it turned out they were crooks. For example, Howard Lederer says at one point (pre-Black Friday), "The heros of poker don't cheat." LOLOL. Well, Mr. Lederer, from someone still owed money by Full Tilt Poker, you are NO hero.

Nostalgia.That's what I felt throughout this poignant documentary; telling the tale of Poker's origin, to the poker boom known as the "Moneymaker Effect" all the way to April 15th, 2011, not tax day, but better known in the poker world as "Black Friday."I remember starting high school around the time Chris Moneymaker was starting the World Series Of Poker in 2003. Everyday a group of friends and I would play poker in the lunchroom on long white tables. We'd always discuss what was going on at the WSOP, it was like a sporting event. When Moneymaker won it all, poker blew up.All In: The Poker Movie is a trip behind the looking glass of the usually close knit and private world of poker.Director Douglas Triola presents the documentary in a very different fashion. Not only are there very candid interviews with the greatest poker minds in the world, which gives you get the feeling of being in school, but there is a smattering of factoids thrown at you randomly at times.Throughout the film key points are brought up in bulletin fashion ala a high school class room, they are sometimes followed by a kicker that makes the audience chuckle or let out a collective "aahhh" as if to reaffirm their pleasure for learning something new.Then there are times when Triola leaves the audience hanging, he'll present a topic of conversation, or major point in either the development of poker or it's growth, and abandon it, only to have it resurface later on in the film.You get the feeling like the players who are being interviewed; from the likes of The Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth Jr. and the unabomber Phil Laak to Annie Duke, The Professor Howard Lederer, and even Matt Damon, are speaking and informing just you.It's all very cordial, and loose, almost like being at a diner or a bar.That's not to say that the tone doesn't change drastically once "Black Friday" is brought up, which in fact starts the film and caps it off.In fact, prior to the documentary starting Triola said that there were tons of edits made in order to make the film as current as possible, saying there was information put in as late as February of 2012.There are three central themes the film focuses on. The first being the game of poker itself, the rich history it has, the false stereotypes that go along with the idea of being a poker player, and what it's like to be immersed in the world of poker itself. Secondly the documentary tells the story of Chris Moneymaker, a "regular Joe" from Tennessee who was making $45,000 as an accountant in 2003 when he entered and won the World Series of Poker.Moneymaker's story is riveting. He opens up about his college days, his father, and the road leading up to his now infamous entry into the World Series of Poker. It's something every poker player needs to see, this isn't something you'll find on his wikipedia page, trust me I checked.The third, and my favorite sticking point of the documentary was the inside look at "Black Friday." For those unfamiliar, up until April 15th, 2011 – you could play online poker in the United States from the comfort of your couch. People were making their living off of online poker via sites like PartyPoker, PokerStars and FullTiltPoker. Legalities came into play and when "Black Friday" rolled around, the biggest online poker sites were shut down and seized by the Department of Justice.Triola goes more in depth on details in the documentary, but the most captivating part of this potion were the reactions from the poker pros. Levels of anger, disgust, befuddlement, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Many likened "Black Friday" to the JFK Assassination in terms of every poker player knowing exactly where they were when they heard the news of these sites being shut down.With the splattering of scenes from the most famous of poker movies like The Cincinnati Kid, Rounders and more, you're always reminded of just how mainstream poker has always been. The idea that it's a shady game with crooks and thieves is a notion of the past.All In: The Poker Movie is a concoction of poker history, the trials and tribulations, from the emphatic rise to the chilling fall.But one constant is ever-present, and that's the love of the game.Referred to by some as "America's real pastime," the pros in the film and Triola make sure to hammer home and romanticize the game; letting everyone know that the government can take away the online action for a little while, but the game of poker itself is here to stay.