Win Win (Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannivale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey) – I am still waiting for Paul Giamatti to disappoint me in a movie. He certainly doesn’t with Win Win, the story of a small-town lawyer who tries to be all things to all people. He coaches the local high school wrestling team; he takes cases with little hope of getting paid; he tries to be a good husband; and he practically adopts the runaway grandson of a client who he has taken guarandianship over in order to get some steady income. Giamatti’s layered performance turns this indie film into a gem. Buoyed by a great supporting cast that includes established second bananas like Bobby Cannivale (The Station Agent and a recent Tony Award nominee), Jeffrey Tambor (The Larry Sanders Show), and Burt Young (Paulie from all of the Rocky movies), Giamatti’s Mike Flaherty is a sympathetic character whose life is a lot like his wrestling team’s. It’s fun but never good.
The plot follows him through life’s and his team’s travails, which perk up noticeably when the new kid in town, Kyle (Alex Shaffer), turns out to be a former top wrestler for his old high school in Texas. Flaherty, feeling a little guilty about displacing the kid’s dementia-ridden grandfather, Leo (Young), from his home into an assisted living center, takes the lost but surprisingly grounded kid into his home, enrolls him in the high school, and makes him the centerpiece of his team. With his friends as his assistant volunteer coaches (Cannivale and Tambor), Flaherty seemingly is turning his life around. But trouble looms when the kid’s mother, Cindy, shows up wanting her dad’s money and to reconnect with her son. She is a mess. Played by Melanie Lynskey, whose face is very recognizable though you’ll have trouble placing her in any movie (although she has been in Up in the Air and The Informant as well as a recurring role in TV’s Two-and-a-Half Men), Cindy threatens to expose Flaherty and tumble the house of cards. Flaherty has no cards to play in this shakedown even though he genuinely cares for Kyle, Leo his friends and his own family.
While you always have the feeling the movie will resolve itself to the satisfaction of the audience, you are never quite sure. Because, except for Cindy, you hope everyone wins. I love the eccentricity and layered nature of each of the characters and the earnestness of Flaherty. Giamatti displays his everyman quality and that makes his character all the more compelling. The fact that Giamatti has been able to turn his plain, non-movie star looks into regular and exceptional work bespeaks his enormous talent. See this movie for all of the reason above and because it is the type of film we just don’t get enough of.