All We Had (2016)

Directed by: Katie Holmes | 100 minutes | drama | Actors: Katie Holmes, Stefania LaVie Owen, Richard Kind, Mark Consuelos, Eve Lindley, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Judy Greer, Luke Wilson

Katie Holmes was in the tabloids almost daily for years. She owed this mainly to her stormy marriage to superstar Tom Cruise; Within two months of their first date, the two were engaged, exactly one year after that first date, daughter Suri was born and six months later they were married and the couple was dubbed ‘TomKat’. Completely brainwashed by the Church of Scientology, Cruise immortalized himself in 2005 by jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch like a small child and shouting his love for Holmes. Although she lasted over five years with Cruise, the interference of the Church of Scientology became too much for the talented actress at one point. In addition, she was afraid that Cruise would kidnap their daughter. It was no longer about her film career. In 2012, the much-discussed couple officially broke up and Holmes managed to break away from the Church of Scientology. Now that her daughter is older, she finally has time for her film career again. A career that is no longer limited to acting; Holmes recently started producing and directing as well. She makes her directorial debut with the packed drama ‘All We Had’ (2016). She also plays the lead role. So you can safely say that it is an important project for the now 38-year-old Holmes.

‘All We Had’ is the film adaptation of Annie Weatherwax’s 2014 novel of the same name. Rita Carmichael (Katie Holmes) has a hard time. When we meet her, she’s on the run from a loose-handed boyfriend. Together with her fifteen-year-old daughter Ruthie (Stefania LaVie Owen), she lubricates him with her last pennies, in her rickety rust bucket. They don’t know where they are going. When the exhaust of their car suddenly catches fire, Rita is at her wits’ end. Repairing the car is actually not an option; then she is out of all her money. Out of sheer desperation, she even offers the auto mechanic her body. He appears to still have some respect for women and declines her offer. He fixes the car for a discounted price and Rita and Ruthie are on their way again. Ruthie is a good student and dreams of studying at Harvard University, so the trip heads to Boston. At a tiny diner they decide to have something to eat. They don’t have any money, but their plan to leave without paying doesn’t work because their car breaks down again. Manager Marty (Richard Kind) turns out not to be the angriest, sees the despair in Rita’s eyes and offers her a job as a waitress. The tide finally seems to be turning for mother and daughter. Rita hooks up with slick real estate agent Vic (Mark Consuelos), who arranges a house for her. Naive as she is, she signs the contract without reading the fine print. Ruthie befriends the transgender waitress from Marty’s diner, Pam (Eve Lindley), and makes a fresh start at the local high school. Luck seems to smile on the two, but the situation turns out to be more treacherous than expected.

Screenwriters Josh Boone and Jill Killington have ostensibly tried to work all the twists and turns of the novel—and there are quite a few—into the film. As a result, we’re dealing with quite a few blanks, distracting attention from more important storylines. For example, Rita suddenly becomes quite ill (you can at least feel a case of pneumonia coming on), but in the next scene she has fully recovered. The same goes for Ruthie’s experiences at school. A collision with the most popular girl in the toilets suggests the worst confrontations, but not much later she is close friends with this Sally (Katherine Reis) and she hangs around the schoolyard drinking weed and alcohol. Anyone who expects her to completely derail now is wrong again; a strict chat with the school principal – also a neighbor across the street – (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) is enough to get her back on the right track. Judy Greer appears in a role as a confused neighbor across the street, but then we never see her again. Another flaw is the fact that the film is bursting with clichés and predictable twists. When a dead-drunk Lee (Luke Wilson) throws up about Rita in the bar, we already know that he will eventually return in her life. And that there’s a serious reason why he’s getting lost in booze. The viewer has found Rita’s soulmate before she herself.

Despite those flaws in the script, ‘All We Had’ still manages to pack us in. That is largely due to the cast, who simply deliver a great performance. Holmes convinces in the role of a defective mother, who, despite her naivety and unfortunate choice for men, sincerely wants the best for her daughter. With a little good will, you can see a parallel to Holmes’s own life here, and that may well be the reason she puts in one of her best acting performances in years. She receives excellent response from the young Stefania Owen, who in a way forms the conscience of the film, but also struggles with her own issues: growing up. She plays this very naturally; Owen is a talent for the future. The acting in the supporting roles is also well done. Richard Kind is usually an actor with a smile on his ass, but here he plays the part of the good-natured bar owner Marty quite subdued. Eve Lindley moves and inspires as transgender Pam, who, despite the fact that she is regularly a victim of name-calling, abuse and misunderstanding and misconception in general, still goes through life with her head held high and continues to dream of a better future. Luke Wilson plays the kind of role he patents; the gentle lobes with the heart in the right place. A role in which he can do little wrong, even if he does not necessarily distinguish himself.

‘All We Had’ has a script that rattles a lot and Holmes, as a director, doesn’t really know how to put his own stamp on the film. The fact that we still close the film in our hearts is entirely due to the good acting performances. In particular, Holmes himself, Owen and Lindley portray flesh and blood characters, people with their flaws but with their hearts in the right place, who try to keep their heads above water with the best intentions. A bit like the movie itself.