Characters with hearts of gold make 'Win Win', a losing proposition!

Rating: 4/10 (6 November 2011)

Following in the footsteps of his earlier indie 'The Visitor', Writer/Director Thomas McCarthy now proffers up a new unlikely tale, set in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. Paul Giamatti plays another lovable loser by the name of Mike Flaherty, a down on his luck attorney who suffers anxiety attacks due a downtown in his business. He shares an office with an accountant, Vigman, and has a friend, Terry, who's bitter after his wife leaves him for a contractor who's been repairing his home. Despite the fact that he's breaking his back trying to get new clients, Mike still has time to work as a part-time wrestling coach at the local high school, along with Vigman, and later Terry, who still has an interest in the sport as he used to be a below average wrestler as a teenager.
The basic plot seems a bit confusing. I didn't understand why Mike agrees to assume the guardianship of part-dementia stricken Leo and then promptly puts him in a nursing home against his wishes. He could have kept his $1500 fee and simply allowed Leo to stay in his home with round-the-clock help (it's established that Leo is well off and can afford home care—in fact he already has help at the time Mike takes his case). Most of Mike's work as a guardian would have involved overseeing Leo's finances—not having to run over to the home all the time which is Mike's justification for putting him in the home in the first place. Leo did seem like an interesting character but Burt Young has little to do, playing a part that is clearly underwritten.
Apparently, Mike's secretary's investigatory skills aren't very polished, as she's unable to find out any information about Leo's family. Lo and behold, Leo's missing grandson, Kyle, suddenly shows up on his grandfather's doorstep one fine day and he's a champion high school wrestling student to boot! Part of the problem here is that McCarthy can't decide whether this is a comedy or drama. The result really is an uneven hybrid. A good part of the Act 2 shenanigans are just that: shenanigans! The big joke is that the student wrestlers are completely inept and we're supposed to laugh at them, even after Kyle comes on board and restores a modicum of dignity to the team. Aside from Kyle, the next best player is Stemler (Kyle's buddy), who wins a match, not by pinning his opponent, but escaping his clutches, so that the clock runs out! The three coaches also happen to be thoroughly obnoxious in their fanatic love of the game; exhorting the hapless students through the use of choice expletives (and in the case of Mike) slapping Kyle in the face (at the boy's behest), in order to motivate him to greater heights on the gym floor.
'Win, Win' becomes slightly more interesting at the midpoint, when Kyle's mother finally appears, lawyers up and demands to take Leo and Kyle back home with her as well as demanding Mike's $1500 guardianship commission. The way all this plays out is fairly predictable. Mike and his wife Jackie basically end up bonding with Kyle, despite the kid's chequered past which includes a juvenile rap for stealing a car. When Kyle finds out that Mike is "just as bad as his mother", after it's revealed that he put Leo in a nursing home against both the grandfather's and the court's wishes, Kyle disappears, resulting in a frantic search, initiated by Mike and Jackie. All's well that ends well when Kyle is found at Leo's place, a series of apologies are made by Mike and Jackie reassures the boy that he's loved by them. An even more sentimental (and hence happy ending) is effected when Kyle's drug addict mom changes her mind about allowing 'good kid' Kyle to remain with the Flahertys. The win-win proposition comes into play when Kyle's mom gets to keep the $1500 and Mike doesn't have to reveal to the court that he's guilty of fraud. Mike's only 'punishment' is that he's forced to work part-time as a bartender in order to make up for the money he's agreed to send to the drug addict mom.
Giamatti does well in the role of Mike despite the fact that he's not a very sympathetic character. Even less sympathetic is Terry who has a chip on his shoulder after his wife has an affair with that contractor. I'm not sure what Vigman is doing in the script and newcomer Alex Shaffer (a former successful high school wrestler) feels like he needed quite a bit of coaching (for the acting part—not the wrestling) to play the part of Kyle. Only Amy Ryan really succeeds amongst the supporting players as she does well in depicting the skepticism (and later the acceptance) of the young interloper in her household.
Like in his previous indie, 'The Visitor', McCarthy's characters tend to veer toward the melodramatic. There is a need for a slightly flawed hero but the antagonist is decidedly evil. In the end, Win Win, is pretty much a losing proposition, as it sacrifices verisimilitude for the easy happy ending, with characters who can't rise above their hearts of gold.