Win Win

★★★★

(2012)

Tom McCarthy’s third film after the near perfect The Station Agent and the horribly under appreciated The Visitor is the loveable but not quite brilliant Win Win. Dough faced wonder Paul Giamatti play’s Mike Flahery a lawyer and family man who quitely hides his worries away from his sharp wife Jackie (Amy Ryan). Panic attacks, the fact that his practice is failing and even the old man he’s purposely become the registered guardian of so he can gain a little extra income; Another well meaning but ultimately flawed character of which McCarthy has perfected.

When the old man’s grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) runs away from his estranged and strange mother and turns up on the old man’s doorstep it’s up to Mike and his family to take in the troubled young man while Mike tries valiantly to keep his head above water. Kyle’s closed teenage mumblings do well to hide his talent as a high school wrestling champion and once coxed into Mike’s own failing wrestling team the story opens up into a quiet and wonderfully funny study of acceptance and morality.

Filled with sweet moments while never being over the top and leaning heavily on what Giamitti does so well without exploiting it, the film shows a side of an actor whose subtly is often misjudged as 2 dimensional and a director totally in control of his writing and his tone. Jeffery Tambor and Bobby Cannavale lend a comic hand as Mike’s assistant coach and best friend and though providing most of the films straightest laughs are also integral to Mike character and the story’s outcome.

The cast are fine and although not quite reaching the highs of McCarthy’s other little gems Win Win definitely holds its own and in its own strange way does the near impossible by making a likeable heartfelt family drama and sports film with out any hint of sentimentality or chest beating cliche.