All We Had (2016)

Not the worst movie I've seen. But I would not recommend. The beginning was a good start, but only a few good scenes after that. Overall It was pretty boring

A mother struggles to make a better life for her daughter. All We Had is Katie Holmes directional debut and personally i really don't like her that much as an actress except her performance in Batman Begins (2005) as Rachel and First Daughter (2004) i really haven't seen her in anything else. Both the mother and the daughter are pretty unlikable and pretty boring, the rest of the cast is just there for the paycheck and the only actual person that was good in the film was Richard Kind as Marty his performance was very sweet and his character really tried to help those girls, unfortunately Holmes doesn't understand the difference between Drama and boredom, she also doesn't understand how directing actually works too. (0/10)

Katie Holmes, as Rita, and Stefania Owen, as Ruthie, are both excellent in their starring roles here as mother and daughter respectively. with Holmes making her feature film directorial debut as well. This is a dark and gritty drama, at times difficult to watch, as Rita proves to be just an awful mother in so many ways, as she drags Ruthie from town to town, ending one bad relationship with a man only to move onto the next one. Their odyssey comes to at least a temporary halt when Rita's car breaks down and they're forced to establish some roots in a town along the way.There's really a top notch cast here with Luke Wilson, Richard Kind, Eve Lindley, and Siobhan Fallon all enhancing the film in supporting roles. To note, there's raw and explicit language throughout the movie and some suggestive sexual scenes as well. Overall, one's rating of this film may hinge on how much the viewer can accept a mother's actions and behavior as part of a dramatic storyline and put one's "judgmental hats" aside. For me, the strong acting, the intensity of the plot elements, and finally the uplifting final parts of the movie made it a fairly decent indie watch.

This adaptation lacks the depth and solemnity of the source material, Annie Weatherwax's novel of the same title. The opening scenes introduce viewers into the story establishing the main theme of the film of an addict who is trying to make a better life for her 14-year-old daughter but the plot rapidly gets boring. Despite the mediocre screenplay, Katie Holmes delivers as Director and actress; Stefania Owen who plays Rita Carmichael (Holmes) daughter Ruthie also delivers a strong performance. Overall this movie proves that Holmes will be able to make her mark as Director with screenplays worthy to make into a film, unfortunately the screenplay of this movie ruined what could have been a great drama.