R | 1h 46m | Drama, Comedy, Sports, Coming-of-Age | 2011
Like Ben Affleck, Tom McCarthy began his career as an actor, and, in 2003, began writing and directing his own films. However, unlike Mr. Affleck, Mr. McCarthy is a good actor and virtually unidentifiable to even seasoned moviegoers. He was in “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Syriana,” “Michael Clayton,” the “Meet the Parents” franchise, and the landmark HBO series, “The Wire.”
Unlikely Pairing
Some might refer to Mr. McCarthy’s movies as formulaic or slight variations on the same theme, and they’d be right. All three feature everyday people crossing paths with other everyday people they probably wouldn’t get to know unless given the choice or chance. If this is indeed a formula, it’s one of the best ever conceived, and it provides limitless dramatic and comedic possibilities.
Mike (Paul Giamatti) is an atypical attorney. Based in a small New Jersey suburb, his practice isn’t the kind that generates big bucks. Mike doesn’t seem to have a niche specialty, and most of his clients are appointed to him by the court system. Low visibility cases equate to low pay and that, coupled with an anemic economy, means Mike is barely getting by. From what we can tell, he’s an ethical guy, but he’s also growing desperate.
Laughingstock
When not trying to field new clients, Mike is the coach of the local high school wrestling team and, despite the considerable instructional and motivation skills of his assistant Stephen (Jeffrey Tambor), the team is an abysmal laughingstock. All of this changes with the arrival of Kyle (Alex Shaffer), a new student who recently fled Ohio to escape his louse of a mother, Cindy (Melanie Lynskey).Mr. McCarthy isn’t a big fan of contrivance and forced-story wrinkles and this approach may irritate some viewers conditioned to expect 11th-hour surprises and faux-upbeat finales. As “Win Win” could technically qualify as a sports movie, the expectation of zeroes-to-heroes, and feel-good cheer will be expected, and Mr. McCarthy flat-out refuses to deliver it. There’s no swelling score or misty-eyed tugging of heartstrings, but that doesn’t mean the film doesn’t pack a considerable positive emotional punch somewhat along the lines of “The Blind Side.”
Discerning audiences the world over should be grateful that Tom Hanks became a megastar when he did. If he hadn’t, he’d be starring in low-visibility gems like this, and Mr. Giamatti might never have had a career. Both men (who ironically shared a key scene in “Saving Private Ryan”) have, to be kind, less than ideal leading-man good looks, especially Mr. Giamatti. Add to that, Mr. Giamatti’s tendency to play heavily flawed characters that are often unlikeable, and you end up with a bunch of very good movies not a whole lot of people want to see.
Killer Cast
As with most of his projects, Mr. Giamatti is surrounded here by a killer supporting cast that also includes Oscar-nominee Amy Ryan (“Gone Baby Gone”) as Mike’s prickly and judgmental wife, Jackie, and Bobby Cannavale as his flustered, recently divorced buddy, Terry.The biggest surprise here is Mr. Shaffer, a previous non-actor who got the gig because he was a champion wrestler, who happened to be camera friendly. At first, Mr. Shaffer’s lackluster style seems out of place alongside his more emotive co-stars, but it fits his character perfectly. Kyle is a regular kid with regular kid problems, and having him go all blubbery and high-strung would have ruined everything.
As welcomed as “Win Win” was in March of 2011 during its limited release, it should have been released in the late fall when it would have had a far better chance of fielding awards notice. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominating committee members, and most critics, have notoriously short attention spans and that proved to be the case here. It received zero awards notice, and showed up on only a few Top 10 critics lists. It landed at number nine on my list for the year.
