Win Win
{5/5} “‘Mommy? Where’s Daddy?’ ‘He’s running.’ ‘From what?'”
Mike is a lawyer who’s having a tough time making ends meet. He sees an opportunity when Leo, one of his clients who has dementia, needs a guardian. In his spare time Mike coaches wrestling, along with his friends Stephen and Terry. Then Leo’s grandson Kyle shows up — he’s trying to get away from Cindy, his drug-addicted mother. Mike and his wife Jackie decide to let Kyle stay with them, and it turns out that Kyle is great at wrestling.
Win Win was released in 2011.
In a normal movie there might be one interesting character, possibly two or three. In Win Win there’s a whole bunch. The characters are facing some difficult questions. Should you take an opportunity to make some money if it’s not strictly ethical but won’t really hurt anybody? How do you know who to walk away from and who to give another chance to?
Even if wrestling is far from your favourite sport, this movie will still grab you. You’ll care about what happens to the characters, and I think you’ll be surprised at least once. I recommend you put it at the top of your list.
Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version) plays Mike — he’s the master of getting us to like him even though he’s doing something questionable. The always funny Jeffrey Tambor (the TV show Arrested Development) plays Stephen, and Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent) plays Terry. Burt Young (Rocky) plays Leo, and Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures) plays Cindy.
Other actors I didn’t know but deserve a mention: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) plays Jackie, and Alex Shaffer (in his first movie role) plays Kyle.
The movie was directed by Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent).