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 has double-crossed comes into his life.

Director:

Tom McCarthy

Writers:

Tom McCarthy (screenplay), Tom McCarthy (story)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor

5 wins & 22 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
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
Penelope Kindred	...	Stella

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:

double cross | lawyer | wrestling | high school | coach | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alex Shaffer was indeed the New Jersey state high school wrestling champion the year before the film was made. However, he had to quit the sport due to a back injury.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Kyle: If I wanna smoke, should I go outside?
Jackie Flaherty: You shouldn't be smoking.
Kyle: I know. But if I do.
Jackie Flaherty: Then you should go outside.

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Connections

Features House of the Damned (1963)

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Soundtracks

Revolution
Written and Performed by Burn Season
Courtesy of Bieler Bros. Records

User Reviews

A nice film for a quiet afternoon.

Paul Giamatti is awesome, simple as that. Such a talented actor, I have yet to see him in a film that I haven't enjoyed. So of course Win Win is the next on the list on his impressive resume, the story was surprisingly quite complex but not difficult to keep track of which is the work of a great director.

The character of Jack is very reminiscent of Giamatti's character from Storytelling, a guy somewhat down on his luck who just can't seem to get ahead or on top of things, of course these films are very different but the similarities are definitely there.

Amy Ryan impressed me a lot, I've never seen her in anything before but after seeing this I look forward to catching other films with her, she has a great presence in screen and her and Giamatti work excellently together... Also worth mentioning is the always fantastic Jeffrey Tambor, equally as cool as Giamatti.

The only thing I thought didn't work was Melanie Lynskey, that woman has one of the sweetest faces and personalities, and seeing her playing a gold digging, backstabbing selfish mother just didn't work. I still love her though.

A nice film that is not groundbreaking, but especially entertaining and pleasant to watch.

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [United States] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Win Win

Filming Locations:

Gotham, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$150,362, 20 March 2011

Gross USA:

$10,179,275

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,789,613

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Everest Entertainment, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Datasat Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1