*** out of ****
Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Bobby Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor
Running time: 106 minutes
American writer/director Tom McCarthy continually makes the same kind of low-key dramedies, about the feelings of comfort and connection that arise when unlikely strangers become friends. His first two films were the humanely funny The Station Agent and the bitterly moving The Visitor, the latter of which landed Richard Jenkins an Oscar nomination.
These original, if modest creative ventures find a good companion in his newest film, Win Win, about the unlikely camaraderie between a miserable attorney and a compassionate, high-school wrestler.
The attorney is named Mike Flaherty and portrayed by Paul Giamatti in one of those wry, grouchy, sad-sack roles that seem to have been written for him and no one else. Mike’s firm is heading downhill, his health is waning, the boiler below his office is prone to blow to smithereens any day now and the high-school wrestling team he coaches is the lowest-ranked in New Jersey.
Even with these setbacks, he still has to provide for his family (he’s also married to Amy Ryan in a subtle, but warmly funny performance). So Mike decides to take one of his clients, an aging man with dementia named Leo (Burt Young), into his custody so he can pocket a $1,500 stipend every month.
Unbeknownst to Mike, but Leo’s grandson, a teenager with bleached-blonde hair named Kyle (Alex Shaffer, in his film debut), has come to stay with his grandpa in the Garden State as his drug-riddled mom finishes up in rehab.
When Mike decides to let Kyle stay with the rest of the family, he is delighted to find that the misdirected teenager is also a formidable wrestler. Guess who ends up joining the team.
Kyle is keeping a lot of emotions locked deep but trying to put his best foot forward given his morose family situation. The characters routinely question Kyle’s odd hair colour – a dyed blonde over a black base – and this is likely a metaphor for the dark currents of his home life that he is attempting to hide.
The victories rack up for Mike, but can his lucky winning streak continue to such an extent? We’re shaking our heads at Mike’s mistakes, knowing that his immoral behaviour will come back to get him, but we don’t feel an ounce of resentment for him. This intriguing viewer position can be credited to Giamatti’s pitch-perfect portrayal, where he exercises his regular, everyday qualities to align the audience with his hubris.
Shaffer, who is an actual wrestling champion, also gives a fantastic, naturalistic performance, which encompasses a range of mixed emotions in that restrained, tinny delivery that teens know how to deliver so well.
A highlight of the film is a small battle between Mike’s fellow coaches, played by Jeffrey Tambor and Bobby Cannavale, as the latter tries to usurp the right-hand man position out of the former’s grasp. They also fight to see who can garner the most belly laughs. In my mind, Cannavale wins but gets more screen time. So, let’s just call it a tie.
Sadly, the last third of the film is pat and predictable, resorting too much to formula when Kyle’s mom (Melanie Lynskey) comes back for him. It veers from the fresh bonds and relationships that have grown so naturally throughout the film into an act full of obvious situations and chummy conclusions.
Win Win’s story will undoubtedly racket up comparisons to The Blind Side, which rode a wave of flatfooted sentimentality and false patriotism to the tune of over $250 million in North America two years ago. Instead, it’s a wittier and more authentically heartfelt variation on the typical American sports flick.
Win Win is a nearly great film about the triumphs and the setbacks we face every day, and the wonderful cast keeps us in good company even when the story seems to fold into rhythms of tawdry predictability.
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