Win Win
Written and Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Burt Young, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffery Tambor, and Melanie Lynskey
Director of Photography: Oliver Bokelberg, Editor: Tom McArdle, Production Designer: John Paino, Original Music: Lyle Workman
Rated: R for some swearing, a moment of nudity, and a little violence, mostly in the ring.
Although I’m usually there to watch the movie, sometimes I notice odd things about the crowds I’m watching with. This was the case with Win Win, a new comedy from writer-director Tom McCarthy. While most of the audience was your run-of-the-mill old-to-middle-aged New Yorkers, there were a few kids as well. Not a large amount, but enough that I noticed. That fact might tie right into the sensibility that Mr. McCarthy has created in his films, an indie spirit with a crowd pleasing attitude. While The Station Agent and The Visitor presented complex characters who we truly cherished by the end of the film, Mr. McCarthy has created a protagonist and story so lazy in its obviousness, but succeeds on his ability to tug properly at your heart.
The film follows the story of Mike Flagerty, played by Paul Giamatti in a role he has perfected—the lazy and neurotic shlub. A lawyer in New Jersey who helps old people, Mike explains his problem as “work, money, everything,” as if it could be really anything. Despite two gorgeous little girls and a wonderful wife (Amy Ryan, the film’s saving grace), Mike is short on cash, and sets up an elaborate legal scheme to be guardian to a rich elderly man (Burt Young) with dementia and put him in a home, collecting a $1500 check each month.
