Movie info via Slamdance
Based on a true story, All I’ve Got & Then Some follows a day in the life of Rasheed, a homeless stand-up comedian living out of his car in Los Angeles, giving everything he’s got to make his dreams come true.
Having booked his first paid stand-up gig, this day is special for Rasheed, but what should be a smooth day quickly turns into a circus of events that could ruin his shot at getting his first big break.
Supported by his best friend Rose, Rasheed stumbles through the untimely and often bizarre twists and turns of the day as he criss-crosses Hollywood, relentlessly reminding us that each day can be the best day of our lives.
Review:
All I’ve Got and Then Some is a day in the life of a stand up comic handled as part documentary and part fiction. In this case, the comic is Rasheed Stephens who cowrote and directed Some with Tehben Dean who is mainly known as a cinematographer. Some is loosely based on Stehens early Los Angeles experience. He had move to the city of angels from Atlanta and lived out of his car for a short period. Dean handles the technical aspects while Stephens handles story and talent.
The truth part comes with the many onscreen cut aways where the person in the faux doc (Stephens) talks about what just happened. The big difference is that Stephens talks about everything but what happened— his past, mother and father, the audition process, how he crafts his routines. That part at least seem honest, or at least I trusted it. I watched the process, saw him struggle, fail, succeed, finally find his voice.
Everything beyond this is treated as a story, vignettes that make it seem like there is a process and a plot. The people he meets are standard L.A. Hollywood dreams type- the sex worker friend with big attributes in front and behind and the brash personality and loud voice, the roller skating girl with a good heart perfect for the perfect standard platonic romance required, the agent whose work and clients are side hustles from his humdrum shopkeeper existence. They are rejected bits from a failed routine, tossed because their punchlines have been told a thousand times over by both good and bad comics. They are there because they are expected to be there, not that they are necessary.
The comedy expected barely floats above the comedy that is delivered. If this is part of the crafting of process, it’s an ingenious bit of story craft which can be admired even in failure. But I suspect, this is just a first time directing mistake.
All I’ve Got and Then Some gets a 3.0 out of 5 or a B. It’s streaming as part of Slamdance 2024 which is part of the Slamdance Channel. The virtual part of the festival runs from January 22-28.
Credits:
Directed by
Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
Cast
Alison Sieke…Vintage Vortex ClerkJustin Dobies…Party PersonDanny Boushebel…BusinessmanDaniel Holland…Actors at AuditionGlen Davis…BruceArmen Jesralyan…OfficerRasheed Stephens…Rasheed
Cinematography by
Editing by
- Year:
2024 - Runtime:
80 minutes - Language:
English - Country:
USA - Premiere:
World Premiere - Genre:
Drama, Comedy - Subtitle Language:
English - Director:
Tehben Dean, Rasheed Stephens - Screenwriter:
Tehben Dean, Rasheed Stephens - Producer:
Tehben Dean, Rasheed Stephens, Amaka Onwuta, Lisa Mazzotta, Josh Mitchell
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