'Win Win'

'Win Win' (R) (3 1/2 stars)

Writer: Tom McCarthy
Director: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Burt Young, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Shaffer,
Jeffrey Tambor, Melanie Lynskey, David Thompson, Margo Martindale

"Win Win" is the kind of small movie that sneaks up on your and before you know it your eyes are glued to the screen. Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan are two treasures who might be the best actors at playing normal, everyday people. "Win Win" is written and directed by sometime character actor and wonderful writer Tom McCarthy. He also wrote two gems in "The Station Agent" and "The Visitor". Now "Win Win" is not as great at those two movies but McCarthy has a way with writing touching and compelling stories.

"Win Win" tells the story of part time lawyer and part time high school wrestling coach Mike Flaherty and his wife Jackie. Mike takes small cases that don't add up to much and his family is hit by tough economic times. He has two young daughters to support and his wrestling team hasn't won a match yet. Mike takes the case of senior citizen Leo, played by legendary Burt Young. Leo can't find his daughter and is about to be put in a home when Mike intervenes to take him in. Leo's grandson shows up, abandoned by his mother, and stays with Mike and Jackie. The boy turns out to be a wrestler and is lost without a home but he might turn around Mike's team's fortunes.

This all sounds like a movie full of cliches with no surprises and the same old sports movie. The great thing about "Win Win" is that it is really not a sports drama or a wrestling movie. If you don't like wrestling you do not have to stay away. This is a touching, funny and rousing drama about ordinary people. Paul Giamatti is not the usual handsome leading man but I love him more than most leading men. He is always charming, funny and real, a person you would love to be friends with. Amy Ryan burst on to the scene with an excellent performance in one of the most powerful movies of the past decade "Gone Baby Gone". She has become an amazing actress and here, like Giamatti, she is very likable and her Jackie is tough but tender. I love Amy Ryan because when I always see her I get a huge smile on my face. She lights up the screen and with her and Giamatti you never see them acting.

The supporting cast is wonderful with a very funny performance by Bobby Cannavale as Mike's friend. You also have the great Burt Young, who I always miss, Melanie Lynskey and the always reliable Jeffrey Tambor. There are also two real and solid performances by two young actors. The most important is the performance of Alex Shaffer who plays the grandson Kyle. McCarthy got a real wrestler instead of a real actor but Shaffer gives a realistic and fine performance, he is never wooden or stiff. There is also a nice performance by David Thompson who plays a awkward looking wrestler who is always on the bench. He reminds me of Daniel Stern in "Breaking Away" and he is very funny.

Again "Win Win" is not first and foremost a wrestling movie, it is a family drama that just happens to have wrestling as it's focus for Kyle and Mike. The writing is very natural and not forced and I really cared for all the characters. The movie has big laughs and it has two of my favorite actors right now in Giamatti and Ryan. The movie is touching, real and it never gets dark or too heavy. It unfolds like real life and I believed every second of it. The characters are not pulled around by the plot and it , "Sideways" and "Barney's Version" he has become my favorite leading man, not just a character actor. Also Tom McCarthy has not written a weak movie yet and I look forward to and hope he writes a movie once a year. "Win Win" will have you cheering and totally involved in what is so far the best movie of 2011.

P.S. Ladies, am I the only one who thinks Paul Giamatti appeals to women because of his sense of humor and likableness? Just asking.