Win Win

Win Win (15) - 2011 - 106 minutes

Wrestling with a moral dilemma

As his hairline has receded, his waistline has advanced. His eyes are full of sadness, his air unprepossessing. Paul Giamatti makes for an unlikely leading man. But from The Truman Show and Saving Private Ryan to the Cinderella Man (Oscar nomination) and Barney’s Version (second Golden Globe Award), his versatility knows no bounds. Giamatti is currently King of the Indies.

In the latest offering from Director, Thomas McCarthy, Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, a small town, family lawyer whose ailing practice, demanding family and endless list of chores( perennially blocked toilets and broken-down boilers) are beginning to weigh him down. When told he is out running, his daughter innocently asks "from what" but therein lies his dilemma.

Salvation duly arrives initially through a client, retired Alzheimer sufferer, Leo, touchingly played by Burt Young, (Sly Stallone's brother in the Rocky movies) and subsequently through his 16 year old grandson, Kyle (Alex Shaffer), himself in search of refuge from his drug addicted mother. The family take him in, their initial suspicions soon overcome by Kyle's remarkably open and honest persona and soon he is part of the family even joining the high school wrestling team of which Mike is coach.For a while all goes well, but the return of Kyle’s mother spells disaster for Mike.
Alzheimer's, wrestling (with its strange manoeuvres and complex rules) and a mid-life, male crisis would appear to make the strangest of bedfellows and yet somehow, it works. The humour is terrific from Mike's best friend Terry (Bobby Cannavale), an exuberant but embittered divorce who still spies on his wife to the weakling of the wrestling team who simply runs round the ring to Kyle himself whom Mike hits round the head just before each match starts. Giamatti leads the way, simply superb as a man overwhelmed. Anxious and tired, he is worn to a shred but can still find the time to patiently coach the worst team in the state. Shaffer too is excellent, his relationship with Mike's wife Jackie (beautifully played by Amy Ryan) touching and sweet.

McCarthy – who incidentally co-authored the Oscar winning animation Up - directs with minimal fuss allowing the characters full reign. The moral dilemma is interesting portrayed; however noble his intentions, Mike is clearly guilty and yet only through his wife, and then only briefly, is this dilemma explored. Ultimately however, McCarthy redeems himself through his refusal to countenance a Hollywood ending. Life is grey not white nor black. Life is win, lose and very rarely win, win. Charming and well executed. 7/10.DM.