Win Win (2011)

A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he's double-crossed comes into his life.

Director:

Thomas McCarthy

Writers:

Thomas McCarthy (screenplay), Thomas McCarthy (story),

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Giamatti	...	Mike Flaherty
Amy Ryan	...	Jackie Flaherty
Bobby Cannavale	...	Terry Delfino
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Stephen Vigman
Burt Young	...	Leo Poplar
Melanie Lynskey	...	Cindy
Alex Shaffer	...	Kyle Timmons
Margo Martindale	...	Eleanor
David W. Thompson	...	Stemler (as David Thompson)
Mike Diliello	...	Jimmy Reed
Nina Arianda	...	Shelly
Marcia Haufrecht	...	Gina Flaherty
Sharon Wilkins	...	Judge Lee
Clare Foley	...	Abby Flaherty
Penelope Kindred	...	Stella Flaherty

Storyline

Disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Giamatti), who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dealings while trying to support his family. Just as it looks like he will get a double payday, the boy's mother shows up fresh from rehab and flat broke, threatening to derail everything.

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Plot Keywords:

coach | wrestling | high school | high school wrestling | lawyer | 

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Taglines:

In the game of life, you can't lose 'em all.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [us] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 2011 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Ganar Ganar

Filming Locations:

Gotham, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£155,463 (UK) (20 May 2011)

Gross:

$10,179,275 (USA) (15 July 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Everest Entertainment, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Mario's Pizzeria is a Long Island chain pizzeria and has no presence in New Jersey.

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Quotes

[Jackie locks Kyle in the basement]
Mike Flaherty: Whare're you doin'?
Jackie Flaherty: We have kids, Mike. I'm not taking any chances with Eminem down there.
Mike Flaherty: There's not even a bathroom down there, Jack.
[Jackie reluctantly unlocks the door]

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Runaway"
Written by Bryan Crouch, Joe Barlow, Drew Dockrill, Chad Richardson, Darryl Romphf and Alex Aligizakis
Performed by Hail The Villian
Courtesy of Roadrunner Records and Warner Music Canada

User Reviews

Terrific sleeper

Win Win is a terrific multigenre sleeper. It's funny, even hilarious; it has mystery and action; and it features brilliant performances by the always-reliable Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan. It's also not a movie that wallows in treacly messages, and it's not a movie that uses sports as a crutch for "finding one's inner strength." In short, it's a wonderful, top-notch movie.

Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, a small-time lawyer who's running low on cash. He moonlights as coach of the local high-school team, which is, to put it bluntly, terrible. In a burst of fiscal sanity, Mike offers to become legal guardian for Leo, one of his clients (played by the crusty Burt Young), who's just been declared legally incapacitated. Why? Because as his guardian, Mike gets $1500 a month. But since he wants to avoid the extra hassle of actually taking care of Leo, he puts him in a nice home. Seriously, it's a nice home, with nice people and a big flat-screen TV.

At this point, the movie wants us on Mike's side – sort of. He needs the cash, and he doesn't really want to tell his wife Jackie (Ryan) that they're running low, not with two young daughters to care for as well. Plus he's coach of a terrible team and is just swimming in stress. Swimming in it. So much so that while jogging to work off the stress, he suffers a panic attack.

Just when Mike thinks some of his problems have been solved, teenage Kyle (Alex Shaffer) walks into his life. Kyle, it turns out, his Leo's grandson, and they've never met. Kyle's been sent by his mom to visit Leo. At first, this complicates things – especially when Kyle seems awfully reluctant to go back home to Ohio – but then Mike's remaining big problem is solved. It turns out the kid is a gifted wrestler. Who'd have thought that? He looks scrawny, but in practices Kyle shows he has the mettle. And thus things are riding well for Mike.

But this would be a truly dull (if inspirational) movie if things continued to ride well. One thing we learn early on is that Mike intentionally misled the judge in Leo's case, giving the impression that he would be actively taking care of Leo. But things really get going when Kyle's druggie mom (Melanie Lynskey) shows up to bring her boy back – and to take over as Leo's guardian.

Too often, Giamatti has played real sad-sack characters, guys who just can't seem to catch a break, guys who suffer at the hands of fickle fate. Not so here. Mike isn't exactly a conniving mastermind, but he's not an idiot, either, and he deals with each situation with logic and reason, even as they spiral further out of his control. It's a typically masterful Giamatti performance, and for once he's not a total loser who's in over his head. He's even a half-decent coach who simply has a lackluster team to work with.

Giamatti's not alone, though. I really got a kick out of Amy Ryan's performance as his somewhat-exasperated spouse Jackie, who's not terribly fond of suddenly having a teenage boy around at first. A few years back, Ryan turned in an Oscar-nominated performance as a native Bostonian in Gone Baby Gone. Ryan had a thick, believable Boston accent then. Here, she's playing a New Jersey native, but at no point does she go overboard with the Jersey Shore dialect. That's what good actresses can do – they can dial it back when they have to and show a little nuance.

Win Win is not a stand-up-and-cheer movie, although the audience at the screening I attended applauded when it was over. It's not a crime drama, and it doesn't really have a lot of twists to its plot. What makes it work are all of the truly sincere, dead-on performances: by Giamatti, Ryan, Shaffer, Lynskey, Bobby Cannavale, and even Jeffrey Tambor as one of Mike's wrestling assistant coaches. Not a sour note in the bunch, everyone at the top of his or her game.

This might have fared well, critically, if it were released during awards season. It sort of reminded me of last year's Greenburg, starring Ben Stiller, only funnier and sweeter. Win Win is a charming, quiet movie that reminds us that, as the Grateful Dead once told us, once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.