
Thirteen-year-old Ruthie Carmichael and her mother, Rita teeter on the edge of poverty, despite Rita working multiple jobs. When their landlord kicks them out, Rita uses her looks to instantly reel in a boyfriend, who takes them in. Before long, Ruthie convinces her mother to leave and they head East in search of a better life. When money runs out and their car breaks down, they find themselves stranded in a small town called Fat River where their luck finally takes a turn. R... (Full plot summary below)
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Thirteen-year-old Ruthie Carmichael and her mother, Rita teeter on the edge of poverty, despite Rita working multiple jobs. When their landlord kicks them out, Rita uses her looks to instantly reel in a boyfriend, who takes them in. Before long, Ruthie convinces her mother to leave and they head East in search of a better life. When money runs out and their car breaks down, they find themselves stranded in a small town called Fat River where their luck finally takes a turn. Rita lands a steady job waitressing at the local diner. With enough money to pay their bills, they rent a house and Fat River becomes the first place they call home. Peter Pam, a transgender waitress, becomes Ruthie's closest friend. The townspeople become Ruthie and Rita's family. Into this quirky utopia comes smooth-talking mortgage broker Vick Ward, who entices Rita with a subprime loan. Almost as soon as Rita buys a house their fortunes change. Faced once again with the prospect of homelessness, Rita reverts to survival mode, and the price she pays to keep them out of poverty changes their lives forever.
Leave your thoughts about All We Had.
| New York TimesStephen HoldenThe best thing about All We Had is Ms. Holmes’s stormy portrayal of a desperate, foolishly trusting woman who rushes from man to man seeking security, only to find herself used and betrayed while her daughter looks on with increasing dismay. |
| Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernThe directorial debut of actress Katie Holmes, starring herself as Rita, a drunk single mother living out of her car, is the latest well-intentioned yet lousy-with-clichés treatment in the hard-luck-woman subgenre. |
| Little White LiesEd GibbsKatie Holmes puts in a memorable shift as a struggling single mom in her impressive directorial debut. |
| Screen InternationalDavid D'ArcyA film directed by Katie Holmes (and produced by Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal) is a curiosity, and in this case a competent curiosity - no less competent than most of the independent films out there. |
| Blu-ray.comBrian OrndorfIt's an episodic picture, and perhaps a premise seen one too many times, but Holmes finds a way to soften cliché and make the feature feel lived-in and emotionally true. |
| VarietyJay WeissbergKatie Holmes makes an undistinguished helming debut with All We Had, a middlebrow drama with no pretensions but also no depth. |
| CinemaBlend.comGregory WakemanKatie Holmes' impressive directorial debut is peppered with fine performances and stretches what could easily be run-of-the-mill drudgery into a touching, albeit inconsistent, portrayal of modern working class America. |
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckDespite its frustratingly wandering narrative, All We Had does manage to pull you in, thanks largely to its moving depiction of the mother-daughter bond at its center. |
| GuardianNigel M. SmithIt’s Holmes brazen performance that remains the chief drawing point in seeking out All We Had. She burrows deep under the skin of Rita, a woman firmly aware of her many flaws and tragically unable to address them. |
| Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaKatie Holmes's feature-length directorical debut is more earnest than remarkable, but with its heart in the right place. |