Writer-director Tom McCarthy might have started his career in film as an actor, but with his first two efforts behind the lens - "The Station Agent" and "The Visitor" - the filmmaker proved himself an adept storyteller of great sensitivity.
In his latest, "Win Win," McCarthy's empathies lie with Mike Flaherty, an earnest suburban family man struggling to do his best to make ends meet.
We meet Mike as he sputters along a wooded jogging trail, a couple of fleet-footed runners easily passing him. He stops, winded and defeated.
Such is life for Mike (Paul Giamatti). Try as he might, the middle-aged New Jersey lawyer can't seem to keep pace with the demands of life. A tree in his front yard threatens to topple and collapse the roof of his family's house; the boiler at his small law office teeters on the edge of exhaustion; and the small-time clients at his eldercare practice don't quite pay the bills. Adding insult to injury, the high school wrestling team he coaches in his spare time couldn't pin an autumn leaf to the ground.
When faced with the opportunity to take advantage of an aging client's dilemma, the straight-shooting Mike makes an unethical and completely out-of-character move. By becoming the legal guardian of his client, Leo, Mike stands to earn $1,500 a month. Although it seems a victimless crime, Mike realizes his plan is not foolproof when Leo's grandson, Kyle, appears.
The bleached-blond teen initially offers more solutions than problems. As luck would have it, the wayward teen can wrestle with the best of them, an enormous windfall for Mike. But the specter of catastrophe looms, and it seems just a matter of time before Mike's plan will begin to unravel. Eventually we know we will get the frantic, nervous and screaming Giamatti we've all come to gladly endure if not quite love.
In his previous two films, McCarthy has used the plot device of a stranger entering and affecting the lives of others and forming a makeshift family. Here again a stranger enters the scene, but the family in question has concrete definition. Amy Ryan, perfectly cast as Mike's wife, serves as the keystone for the Flaherty family, providing resiliency, humor and warmth. Newcomer Alex Shaffer brings a mumbling and affecting realism to the gentle Kyle, who struggles to find comfort in a family he can call his own.
Bobby Cannavale, who first came to attention in "The Station Agent," and Jeffrey Tambor round out the ensemble cast as Mike's hilarious, if broadly painted, friends and assistant coaches. Even Burt Young, in his small but touching role, provides depth to the film, although the blasé treatment of elder abuse here comes off as slightly unsettling, even for a dark comedy.
McCarthy has shown a skilled hand at quiet, personal stories in his previous films, and while his heart resonates here, he aims for a broader target in "Win Win," obviously enjoying the dynamic of playing with the traditional elements of a sports movie while making a play for more laughs.
"Win Win" unfolds delightfully and almost purposelessly in the first act, but McCarthy's tale finds its footing just as it seems the movie might fall prey to a lack of conflict. Unfortunately, that pace careers into a somewhat forced resolution, but McCarthy's characters still manage to rally you to root for them.
"Win Win"
Our Grade: B
Genre: Comedy Drama
Running Time: 106 min
MPAA rating: R
Release Date: Apr 8, 2011
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