Win Win *****

 

Win Win’s comedy reminds us of The Blind Side minus the melodrama.  Paul Giamatti plays a struggling storefront lawyer and wrestling coach who learns about honesty from a teen sports prodigy.

Mike Flaherty (Giamatti) crosses a moral gray area early in the film. It happens so quickly that it goes unnoticed. Weighing the demands of home and family, Mike chooses a compromise. Being the breadwinner has become dicey in a changing economy.

Mike takes guardianship of elderly Leo (veteran actor Burt Young, touching and emotive). This will garner $1500 a month for his family.  Caring for Leo, who is in the early stages of dementia, will not be easy. Mike sucks on a single cigarette behind a dumpster each day, throwing away the rest of the pack.

Golden Globe winner Giamatti is known for his characters who live through their own private hells. In his breakthrough role as comic book artist Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, Giamatti explored despair. The Yale drama grad brought his earnestness to more transcendent performances in Barney’s Version and John Adams.

In his impressive acting debut, Alex Shaffer is perfect as Kyle, a deadpan runaway whose mother is in drug rehab.  After a few beatings from his mom’s boyfriend, he flees to see Leo, the grandfather he’s never met.

Kyle reveals nothing about his past. His mellow façade covers anger on a slow boil. He’s an innately good, even sweet kid who might set a new course after Mike finds him on Leo’s doorstep.  

In real life, Shaffer was New Jersey’s high school champion wrestler in the 119 pound class. Kyle is a champion who suddenly disappeared from the headlines. Mike can’t believe his luck as Kyle decides to join the local team while he’s in transition

Director Tom McCarthy and boyhood friend Joe Tiboni wrote the script together, drawing on their own less than stellar high school wrestling days. Win Win is infused with the excitement of high school sports.

“Cool mom” Jackie Flaherty comes to life thanks to talented Amy Ryan. Jackie has mixed feelings about bringing an outsider into their home. When Kyle arrives, she sits him down for some straight talk. Ryan beautifully evokes the New Jersey homemaker and caregiver with a Jon Bon Jovi tattoo. She’s the first one Kyle opens up to.

 

Melanie Lynskey plays Kyle’s mom. Vulnerable but decent, she rediscovers her love for her son even while she grasps at anything to turn her life around. Cindy reunites with her father Leo after a lifelong combative relationship. She seeks forgiveness from Jackie Flaherty and everyone she meets, but most of all from Kyle.

Bobby Cannavale adds comedic flash as Mike’s wild card, divorced best friend Terry. The boyish trio of Giamatti, Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor (as assistant coach) will have audiences laughing while they wince.

David Thompson treats us to true blue Stemler, Kyle’s friend on the wrestling team.

“It’s complicated,” Flaherty says when Kyle confronts him. The film’s turning point is bitter. Kyle, his mother and the Flahertys all arrive at a crossroads in this skillfully balanced story.  

In The Station Agent and The Visitor, McCarthy honed his fine power to mold fully realized characters. Every performance in Win Win shows his mastery.  Watching a McCarthy film, like reading a good novel, draws us in. He discovers shimmering light in the stuff of everyday lives.

McCarthy is also an actor who has appeared in films as diverse as 2012 and Fair Game.

The word “love” isn’t used until late in the movie, but when we hear it we believe it.  Win Win’s ending is redemptive but not sentimental. 

If you like Win Win, you might enjoy:  The Kids Are All Right; Barney’s Version; The Blind Side.

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Win Win   2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 46 min 

Cast Overview:   Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Alex Shaffer, Margo Martindale, David Thompson

Director:  Tom McCarthy

Genre:  Comedy, Sports Comedy