Win Win

An act of selfishness backfires and forces a man to open his life to a senile old man, a troubled teen and a mercenary daughter with heavy baggage. This intrusion not only impacts Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) but his entire family as well. Amy Ryan stars as Jackie, Mike Flaherty’s wife and at first she is very upset with her husband. But when her mother’s instinct kicks in and she bonds with the boy Kyle (Alex Shaffer) all she wants to do is kick his mother’s ass.

This all started when Mike, who is a lawyer, signed up to be Leo Poplar’s legal guardian. Leo, played by Burt Young, is wealthy and his guardianship comes with a $1,500.00 monthly conservator fee. Mike is struggling in his small town practice so he convinces the judge to let him take over so Leo could stay in his private home instead of becoming a ward of the state. But as soon as Mike has custody he moves Leo into a senior care facility, a nice one, but not his home.

What makes Win Win so endearing is the wonderful script and the relationships between the characters. Mike coaches the high school wrestling team along with his friend Stephen (Jeffrey Tambor). When it turns out that Leo’s grandson is a champion wrestler, Stephen and Mike finally see a chance of having a winning team. When things start to turn around, Bobby Cannavale as Terry joins the coaching team and the three of them are finally enjoying the taste of being winners. But when Kyle’s mom (Melanie Lynskey) shows up and challenges Mike and threatens to take Kyle and his grandpa, Mike must face his wife and confess his selfish act.

Win Win has such a delicate balance of comedy. It is funny and will take you right up to the edge but it never crosses the line into farce. It remains human and heartfelt and never loses its focus. This is a gem of a film and if you take the time to seek it out, you won’t be disappointed. It's a Win Win piece of entertainment.

Rating: First Run An act of selfishness opens a door