“Win Win” is the third film to be written and directed by Thomas McCarthy–and it’s his third good one. Maybe it’s not as touching as “The Station Agent” nor as winsome as “The Visitor,” but the New Jersey native now has made his home state look good twice in three appearances, and that’s a rather amazing feat.
A fine cast, led by Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Burt Young and long-ago Rep actress Margo Martindale, works diligently to keep the tone properly light most of the time, but also provides a look at ethical problems that many of us can relate to.
Giamatti, a fine actor (remember him as John Adams?), is Mike Flaherty, a hard-working but not very successful attorney, is deeply engrossed in what is mostly a hobby, being an assistant coach of a local high school wrestling team that has no talent whatsoever. And that’s where Cannavale, as Terry, a volunteer assistant coach, early steals the movie. The talented Cannavale, who was the coffee truck driver in “The Station Agent,” does amazing work.
Giamatti, married to the so-talented Ryan, finds himself in a major ethical dilemma when he is named guardian to Leo (a delightful performance by Young) and installs his charge in a nursing home, pocketing the difference between its fee and the court-ordered stipend. In Flaherty’s defense, it’s a nice nursing home. All is okay until Leo’s grandson shows up. He has run away from Mom and home in Ohio. Flaherty takes then boy into his own home–and then discovers he’s high-school age and a very good wrestler.
It’s a device, but McCarthy handles it with real skill. And real charm, too.
As the various problems come to their climactic moments, “Win Win” continues on its pleasant track. The cast works extremely well together, and McCarthy’s touch, as both writer and director, puts a lovely shine on everything.
Win Win opens today
—Joe