Review of Win Win (2011) by Jennifer O — 11 Feb 2012

A down on his luck small time attorney and part time wrestling coach name Mike Flaherty comes up with a scheme to keep his world afloat by becoming the guardian of an aging and senile client...a job which gives him a decent amount of money on the side. He does this at first just to save his ass temporarily, but then generally comes around and redeems himself by doing it for the right reasons. All of this is complicated when a teenage runaway shows up at his door, revealing himself to not only by the client's grandson (whom he's never met), but also a champion wrestler...another great thing Mike needs to make his life better.

Of course there's big reveals, and things take a turn for the dramatic, but it all ends well and the characters gain the important life lessons that they need to from a situation like this. SImply put, each year has at least one feel good indie (or at least one that stands out), and for 2011, WIn Win is that film.

There are some dramatic moments. and they really work, but what really makes this film a winner are the great characters, and the humor. There are multiple characters who really steal the show and ham it up, and that's not a bad thing at all in my eyes. Sure, Bobby Cannavale is a bit obnoxious here, but it is a good perforamnce. Giamatti of course delivers another finely observed role as Mike, Amy Ryan is nice as his wife, Jeffrey Tambor is pretty funny as the full time wrestling coach, and well, ya know waht? Everyone is good here. Alex Shaffer brings a lot of promise in his role as the wrestling runaway, and, in a smaller, but vital role, Melanie Lynskey really shines as Alex's deadbeat druggie mother. Heck, even the little kids in this movie are more than just tolerable. Awesome. Oh yeah, and Burt Young proves that the Rocky series is not the only place where he lets his sadly underappreciated talents shine.

Well, if I seem to like this so much, then why only 4 stars? Well, I do like how, even though he has good intentions with it, Mike's scheme isn't entirely the nicest or morally proper thing in the world. Now, he's not portrayed as a sleazy shyster type of lawyer; he's a regular guy in a bad way, but still. I liked that, but the rest of the film is really pretty unoriginal and just a variation on a theme. It's well played, sure, but still, it's not all that remarkable, or really all that memorable.Plus, with all the swearing at kids during wrestling matches, some of this is rather unrealistic, and wouldn't be happening (at least not so obviously) in reality without consequences.

I do really dig it though, and we need films like this to remind us not only of how great character actors in a caracter driven indie can be, but that without feel good movies, this world wold far less tolerable to deal with.