Win Win (***)
Directed by: Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Alex Haffer, Amy Ryan, Babby Cannavale,
Jeffery Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, David W.
Thompson
Seen: July 23rd 2011
*** Out of ****
Who would have thought a movie built around a struggling lawyer and
high school wrestling could be this entertaining and whimsical? Mike Flaherty
(Giamatti) is a small-town lawyer who, together with his boss/partner Stephen
(Tambor) has trouble keeping their firm afloat. They have only a few clients
and not enough work to keep them above line and requests to other firms for
overflow work is met with apologies. At home Mike and his wife Jackie (Ryan)
are fine and in love but not precisely the definition of happiness. Mike and
Stephen moonlight as the school wrestling coaches, but their team is terrible
and they never win. One of Mike’s cases involves Leo (Young), a slightly off
his rocker old man in whom Mike sees an opportunity for a bit of extra cash
with a small deception. When Leo’s grandson Kyle (Shaffer) shows up after
running away from his drunk mother Cindy (Lynskey), Mike has little to do but
take him in.
Kyle turns out to be a wrestling revelation, and Mike gets him to
enrol at the school to include him on the team. After a while Kyle’s mom shows
up though, making things difficult for Mike in areas where Mike can ill afford
it; professionally endangering his career and personally his small but slipping
grasp on success. Kyle refuses to go back home with his mother, who seems to
only be in it for financial gain. Mike and his best friend Terry (Cannavale)
try to manage Kyle in his fitful reaction to his mother’s presence while
coaching him to higher ambition in the wrestling arena, and the movie shows in
small increments what effect a desperate longing for something can have on
one’s life; for Mike the loss of a clear sense of ethics in a bid for success,
coming out ahead; and for Kyle it’s the loss of his dreams in the wrestling
arena.
Paul Giamatti is, as always, fantastic and his portrayal of the
regular husband is affecting and Amy Ryan complements Giamatti to form the
other half of a perfect screen couple, realism ringing true in their
relationship. Alex Haffer as the troubled Kyle finds a place in your heart
without even trying too hard while Melanie Lynskey is a convincing “evil
mother”. Burt Young’s Leo is my favourite character from this movie, as he
portrays a wholly odd and surprisingly tender old man with a glimmer of knowing
more than he’s letting on.
Win Win is just what its name implies, a win-win situation, you can’t
go wrong with this very entertaining and funny small independent movie.
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