Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a lawyer and high school wrestling coach struggling to hold his life together as the economic downturn threatens to take his practice and rip apart his marriage. When an unethical way to make money off of an elderly client presents itself Flaherty risks it all for a little financial stability. But when his client’s teenage grandson shows up unannounced Flaherty is forced to take him.
Writer/director Thomas McCarthy’s (The Station Agent) Win Win mixes an ample amount of humor with a dose of reality to create one of the better films from 2011’s Sundance Film Festival. Along with Giamatti, the wonderful cast includes Amy Ryan, Jeffery Tambor and a breakout performance from Alex Shaffer as troubled teen Kyle.
Win Win could have taken the easy way out and offered up a more “crowd pleasing” ending, but it would have robbed the film of its credibility. Win Win is a great film because it feels honest rather than contrived and that’s refreshing and rare, even in an indie film.
Bonus features two deleted scenes, a pair of fluffy promo pieces, a music video for The National’s “Think You Can Wait” and an amusing walk down Main Street in Park City. Considering how celebrated the film has been I’m a little shocked that there isn’t an audio commentary.