Title: WIN WIN
Director: Thomas McCarthy
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor en Alex Shaffer
106 Min./ USA / Drama, Comedy

Reviewed by: Sieto Kooijker

“In the game of life, you can not lose ’em all” is imprinted on the back of the blu-ray. And this is actually the essence of the story. In this film we meet Mike, who is beautifully played by the always solid acting Paul Giamatti.

Mike is a lawyer, but has far too few clients to make his business viable. In addition, Mike coaches the local high school wrestling team. When one of Mike’s clients is declared incompetent and is likely to be put out of his house, he decides to take care of his client. His reasons however are not entirely honest. He puts his client in a nursing home and keeps the money to take care of him for himself.

One day his clients grandson (Kyle) comes around asking for his grandfather. He fled from his home to live with his grandfather. This is a situation that Mike has not taken into account. He feels responsible and decides to take Kyle into his home. We see Kyle come into bloom, he also appears to be an excellent wrestler.
The situation becomes complicated when a few months later the mother of Kyle appeares on the scene. All of this turns not only Kyle’s but also mike’s life upside down.

Thomas McCarthy, director of ‘The Visitor’ and ‘The Station Agent’ has delivered another good movie with ‘Win Win’. Although I think the script was a bit weak. On the other hand, the acting of both Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan was quite solid. A nice, small, comic drama.

Reviewed by: Sieto Kooijker

More Movie Reviews