Ganhar ou Ganhar - A Vida é um Jogo

Paul Giamatti is awesome, simple as that. Such a talented actor, I have yet to see him in a film that I haven't enjoyed. So of course Win Win is the next on the list on his impressive resume, the story was surprisingly quite complex but not difficult to keep track of which is the work of a great director.

The character of Jack is very reminiscent of Giamatti's character from Storytelling, a guy somewhat down on his luck who just can't seem to get ahead or on top of things, of course these films are very different but the similarities are definitely there.

Amy Ryan impressed me a lot, I've never seen her in anything before but after seeing this I look forward to catching other films with her, she has a great presence in screen and her and Giamatti work excellently together... Also worth mentioning is the always fantastic Jeffrey Tambor, equally as cool as Giamatti.

The only thing I thought didn't work was Melanie Lynskey, that woman has one of the sweetest faces and personalities, and seeing her playing a gold digging, backstabbing selfish mother just didn't work. I still love her though.

A nice film that is not groundbreaking, but especially entertaining and pleasant to watch.

As in Thomas McCarthy's first film, "The Station Agent", there is an air of loneliness to the characters in "Win Win" but also with an ability to be kind and with a whole lot of humour permeating throughout. Mike (Paul Giamatti) is approaching a mid-life crisis; the monotony of daily life and money troubles colliding. But this is a well written film and it doesn't look or feel like a mid-life crisis. Just as we get to know the characters exceedingly well (despite the short air time for some - Bobby Cannavale's Terry), a plot is introduced. Mike starts acting like a sleazy lawyer just to make some easy money, even though he's anything but a sleazy lawyer. Because he's a good guy, realities quickly catch up, and he starts taking responsibility for a troubled kid. Mostly trying to assuage his guilt of wrong-doing, but this kid happens to be a wrestling phenom and Mike is a struggling high school wrestling coach. This film could easily turn into an underdog sports story, but as I said before, this is a well written film and it doesn't look or feel like an underdog sports story. I found "Win Win" to be a great mix of character study, a mid-life crisis, and an underdog sports story all rolled into something that isn't any of the above. It's a light, funny, enjoyable slice of life that could provide a few lessons on morality but stops itself before it becomes condescending.

Actor-turned-director Tom McCarthy has put together a fine third feature in Win Win. All of his films tend to have compact stories that are small in scope but feature a very focused lens on the lives of their characters.

One might say that Win Win is perhaps his most conventional dramedy, as it features a normal suburban family with normal suburban problems. Paul Giamatti is "Mike Flaherty" an attorney with a small practice who's also a high school wrestling coach. He's not perfect, but he's doing the best he can. He and his wife "Jackie" (the always wonderful Amy Ryan) are busy raising two kids and leading their quiet life. But when Mike gives into temptation to become the guardian of one his elderly clients (for the $1,500 a month commission) things get to be a little more complicated. The client's grandson, a troubled 16-year-old kid named "Kyle" (Alex Shaffer) comes to stay with his grandfather while his mother goes through her drug treatment. Since his grandfather is living in a retirement home, Kyle ends up staying with Mike and Jackie, who feel compelled to help the kid out.

The film is funny and sweet and paints a really true-to-life portrait of its characters. No one is purely good or purely bad, they're all just human. They make mistakes, whether large or small, and they try to make up for them. In that way, the film will strike a nice honest chord with most of its audience.

Paul Giamatti is great in this, giving a much lower key performance than some of his previous works like American Splendor, Sideways, and even "John Adams." He falls into the suburban dad character very well and wears the character's skin rather nicely. Amy Ryan is always a joy to see on-screen, but I was a bit disappointed that her character was a little one-dimensional, depicting her primarily as a stay at home housewife and mother. Bobby Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor are fun to watch as well, but serve generally to provide comedic relief (which they do in abundance) and their characters aren't nearly as well painted as Mike or Kyle.

Alex Shaffer, in his very first role, holds his own among some heavyweight actors. I thought some of the emotional scenes were a bit rough for him, but if he decides to continue his acting, more experience will only help to mature his instincts and abilities. Now, outside those heavily emotional scenes, Shaffer is great. His sort of deadpan, monotone delivery works very well for the character.

Kudos go out to Thomas McCarthy's directorial style and talent. He's put together three solid films, all of them equally enjoyable and smart. With Win Win, he's proved he can move past the "loner" archetype of his previous films and move into something more family oriented and encompassing of more characters (although when I think about it The Station Agent had that type of familial quality to it in the friends that Finbar meets). Either way, McCarthy is batting 1.000 in my book and has yet to have a misstep.

When the film releases on March 18th, I'd highly recommend people go and check it out. It's a very sweet and very funny film that deserves the large audience it hopefully will get.

Win Win is a charming delightful film about an ordinary family dealing with the struggles of everyday life. Writer/Director Tom McCarthy should be commended for his excellent work. Paul Giamatti – a true everyman actor – delivers a wonderful performance as a lawyer and wrestling coach struggling with the challenges of family and money in New Jersey. In the process of taking guardianship for an elderly client Giamatti's character, Mike Flaherty, becomes enmeshed in the old man's family when the old man's grandson shows up literally on his front doorstep. The teenager turns out to be an incredible wrestler, which is a great asset to Mike's awful wrestling team. And then things begin to get complicated. Giamatti specializes in bringing forth flawed characters that are delightfully human. This is a funny, sweet film that combines comedy and drama. Win Win also reminds us that family goes well beyond blood relatives; family is the constantly evolving circle of people that we love and care about. I literally walked out of theater just feeling much better than when I walked in. That has to be one of the best ways to judge any film.

I enjoy Royal Tenenbaums, Juno, and Little Miss Sunshine because they're about eccentric, witty people whose foibles are made less than tragic, their dialogue hypnotizes, and their personas seduce. Then comes Win Win, not as ingenious or innovative as those films but a winner in its own right because it embellishes little while it stays real and lovingly humane.

A little like my family and other interesting neighbors, Win Win has love to spare. Mike (Paul Giamatti) has a failing law practice, moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, and now becomes custodian of elderly Leo Poplar (Burt Young) because Mike needs the $1500 a month. Soon complication arrives with bleached blond Kyle (Alex Schaffer), Leo's grandson, who wants to live with Leo.

Mike is thus faced with more complications than he bargained for in the caretaker role, yet a bit of light shines through as he deals with the taciturn Kyle, who happens to be an excellent wrestler. Mike's relationship with his wife, Jackie (Amy Ryan), is rich with respect between both and patience on her part as she helps Mike through his ethical challenge and his guidance of Kyle.

Nothing comes easy in this dramedy, as it doesn't for most of us, but the beauty of this film is that it slowly works out all the kinks of life in a slowly distributed narrative with triumphs and setbacks that seem to come naturally. Because the central characters are loving and largely benign, the film has an easy, unforced quality.

Terry (Bobby Cannavale) is especially likable as Mike's old wrestling buddy, recently split from his wife, and full of energy to channel as assistant coach helping with their new wrestling star. Cannavale brings an easy charm to the film; he's an enjoyable foil for the schlubby, depressive Giammatti.

Although a few swear words, mostly "f bombs," are dotted in the dialogue, it is essentially a family where the characters live to love.