From writer/director Tom McCarthy, he is proficient when it comes to the dramedy. Responsible for The Station Agent and The Visitor, McCarthy had started out (and still occasionally works) as an actor, which might partly explain his ability in drawing out strong performances when telling personal, emotional stories. Win Win is no different. It may look like a film about a supposedly normal family life that’s actually dysfunctional, except in this case it really is normal. Yet despite how ordinary the characters come across, you actually care enough to want to see them through to the end.
Family man Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a lawyer struggling to get any cases, making it difficult to look after his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) and their two children. Working alongside his colleague Stephen (Jeffrey Tambor), they both moonlight as wrestling coaches for the local high school, but are on a losing streak. Financially, it’s not enough to make ends meet. One of his older clients, Leo (Burt Young) is in the early stages of dementia, and with no next-of-kin available to look after him, he will end up in the care of the state. Mike takes it upon himself to become his guardian, but that’s only after his secretary mentions the $1500 a month care fee that’s paid out to Leo’s career. With the extra cash coming in, he then puts Leo in a care home. Only along comes Kyle (Alex Shaffer), the 16-year-old grandson that no one (not even Leo) knew he had. Having run away from home, Mike decides to look after him.
Kyle joins the wrestling team, and happens to be pretty good, with fellow coach Stephen uttering, “I don’t think we can teach him anything.” He’s right, since they eventually turn to Kyle and talk him into teaching the rest of the class one of his moves. The result is one of unexpected hilarity.
Paul Giamati can do no wrong, effortlessly sliding into the role of a generally easy-going everyman dealing with life’s hardships. Starting out stressed, and leading to breathing difficulties, he does at one point lose his cool and takes it out on his young wrestlers, later telling Kyle that he’s not normally like that. Amy Ryan is just as impressive, though it’s strangely surprising to see her character care a lot about someone else’s child; so much so that it comes out in comical outbursts (“I wanna go to Ohio and beat the crap outta his mom”).
Interestingly, rather than going with a professional actor, McCarthy picked a real-life successful high-school wrestler for Kyle. Alex Shaffer has never acted before, and while this does show in places (he can do anger, but has trouble voicing it), the good far outweighs the bad. With loneliness and unlikely friendships being an occurring theme in McCarthy’s films, Kyle shares similarities with Fin from The Station Agent, with Kyle being an only child, giving one-word answers, and he doesn’t really do anything to seek attention.
The supporting cast, with Jeffrey Tambor and Melanie Lynskey, as Kyle’s mother Cindy, is equally solid. Particular praise goes to Bobby Cannavale as Mike’s best friend Terry, begging to be a wrestling coach after seeing Kyle in action. McCarthy had previously cast Cannavale in The Station Agent and rewards him with the funniest lines. As well as the witty script, the film delivers some expected quirks, though they never really add anything substantial – Mike’s daughter Abby asks about playing croquet, Terry plays Wii Golf, and there’s a boiler making strange noises.
In these troubled times we live in, people are more likely to screw someone over to get a hold of whatever amount of money they can, instead of simply doing the right thing. In a strange way, it’s understandable seeing how a good person like Mike ends up making bad choices, given how the carrot on the stick lured in front of him becomes rather tempting. Though it’s kind of hard to believe that he’s too scared to be honest with his wife about failing to make ends meet.
Fox Searchlight have had a good run of successful films in the last few years, with Juno, 500 Days of Summer and more recently with Black Swan. As good as Win Win is, it’s unlikely to reach the same level of success. It’s certainly a critical darling, but it also happens to be one of those independent films that looks very boring from the outside (have you seen the poster?). It’s familiar territory, and no great stretch for McCarthy, but it’s still a rare thing when an enjoyable dramedy comes along that consists of good quality writing, directing and acting.
