"Win Win" Is a Winner

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2012)

An appealing film that manages to be feel-good while still allowing its audience to respect itself in the morning.
Paul Giamatti plays a down-on-his-luck lawyer who takes under his wing the grandson of a mentally incompetent man (Burt Young) for whom he's become legal guardian. The grandson happens to be a great wrestler, much to Giamatti's happiness, since he coaches a high-school wrestling team on the side. But after initially winning the boy's affection, Giamatti must own up to some unpleasant truths, like the fact that he took guardianship of the boy's grandfather for the financial stipend he would receive while ignoring the grandfather's wishes to live in his own home instead of the senior care facility in which Giamatti places him. He becomes yet one more adult in the boy's life (his mother, who comes calling to claim him after being absentee, being another) who have disappointed him and made adulthood seem like something he should be reluctant to achieve himself.
"Win Win" ends more patly and tidily than a situation like the one portrayed actually would in real life, but it's easy to forgive, because I'm a sucker for any movie about a person manning up and doing what is right when it would be so much easier to do what is wrong. The movie is casual and laid back, and the performances, from Giamatti, but also from Bobby Cannavale as Giamatti's friend and especially Amy Ryan, a scene stealer as Giamatti's wife, relaxed and charming. Writer and director Tom McCarthy, who made the equally fine "The Station Agent" and "The Visitor," adds another quality notch to his belt.
Grade: A