''Win Win'' is a 2011 American

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Tom McCarthy and starring

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

, Alex Shaffer,

Amy Ryan Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee. Ryan began her pr ...

Bobby Cannavale Roberto Michael Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for various television roles, including leading roles in '' Third Watch'', '' Vinyl'', and ''Mr. Robot'', as well as recurring roles in '' Will & Grace'', which ...

, Jeffrey Tambor,

Burt Young Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (born April 30, 1940), known professionally as Burt Young, is an American actor, author and painter. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series. He was nominated for ...

and

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

Plot

Small-town New Providence, New Jersey, attorney Mike Flaherty moonlights as a

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

coach and struggles to keep his practice solvent, while shielding his wife Jackie and their two young girls, Abby and Stella, from the extent of the problem. When his court-appointed client, Leo Poplar, who is suffering from early dementia, turns out to have no locatable relatives, he persuades a judge to appoint him as guardian, for which he will receive a stipend of $1,508 per month. Mike, however, has no intention of taking care of Leo and moves him to a senior care facility while he continues to get paid for guardianship. When Leo's teenage grandson, Kyle, shows up from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, looking to live with him, Mike and Jackie let him stay with them instead. Kyle tries to break into Leo's old house, and when Mike and Jackie question him about it, he reveals his troubled family life: His mom is in rehab, she lives with her boyfriend, and he doesn't want to go back. Upon hearing this, Jackie refuses to allow Kyle to return home and lets him stay in their household. After Kyle sits in on practice, they discover that he is a talented wrestler and enroll him at Mike's high school, where he can resume his education and wrestle on Mike's losing team, helping to make them viable contenders in their league. This "everyone benefits" setup is disrupted when Kyle's mother Cindy shows up, fresh out of rehab. Cindy attempts to gain custody of her father and her son, and with them her father's substantial estate. However, Mike explains to Cindy and her lawyer that Leo had disinherited her from his will, causing her to become furious. Later, Cindy calls Kyle to her hotel room to show him court documents proving that Mike has been taking advantage of his arrangement with Leo. Kyle reacts violently towards his mother before running away. Upon learning the truth about Mike, the boy rejects him as a money-seeking opportunist no better than his mother. Realizing the mistake of his earlier actions, and seeking instead to do what's best for both Leo and Kyle, Mike offers Cindy the monthly stipend in exchange for leaving them in his care. He and Jackie take Kyle into their home permanently and return Leo to his, with Mike instead taking a job as a bartender to address his financial problems.

Cast

as Mike Flaherty * Alex Shaffer as Kyle Timmons *

as Jackie Flaherty *

as Terry Delfino * Jeffrey Tambor as Stephen Vigman *

as Leo Poplar *

as Cindy Timmons * Margo Martindale as Eleanor Cohen *

David W. Thompson David William Thompson (born July 21, 1994) is an American actor known for '' Win Win'' (2011), '' Blue Ruin'' (2013) and ''Green Room'' (2015). He plays Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in the Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous ma ...

as Stemler * Mike Diliello as Jimmy Reed * Nina Arianda as Shelly * Marcia Haufrecht as Gina Flaherty * Sharon Wilkins as Judge Lee * Clare Foley as Abby * Tim Ransom as Stuart

Critical reception

''Win Win'' received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has a rating of 94%, based on 166 reviews with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's consensus states, "Rich, wonderful characters and strong performances populate ''Win Win'', with writer/director Thomas McCarthy continuing to emerge as a great American humanist." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Peter Travers of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling the film a "gem, hilarious and heartfelt with a tough core that repels all things sappy", and "just about perfect."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' gave it 3 out of 4 stars, writing "You have a funny situation, and there's some truth in it and unexpected characters, well-acted, and you may not have a great film but you enjoy watching it."

Steven Rea Steven Rea (also known as Steven X. Rea) is an American journalist, film critic,

of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'' gave it 3 out of 4 stars, writing " iamattidelivers a marvel of a performance—all the more so because we forget that he is performing." He concluded "''Win Win'' doesn't quite hit the high notes of grace and revelation that '' The Station Agent'' and '' The Visitor'' achieved, but McCarthy and his able cast pull off a similar mix of humor and pathos, smiles and angst."

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist" on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at ''The Boston Globe'' for two ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' wrote "''Win Win'' is the most radical movie yet from writer-director Tom McCarthy, and it may be one of the more daring movies to be recently released in America."

Soundtrack

Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National contributed an original song to the movie's soundtrack. The song is titled "Think You Can Wait" and features vocals from fellow Brooklyn musician

Sharon Van Etten Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released six studio albums, the latest of which is '' We've Been Going About This All Wrong'' (2022). Early life Van Etten was born in Belleville, N ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Win Win 2011 films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2011 independent films 2010s sports comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American independent films American sports comedy-drama films Dune Entertainment films Films about lawyers Films directed by Tom McCarthy Films set in New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York (state) Fox Searchlight Pictures films Sport wrestling films Union County, New Jersey Films scored by Lyle Workman 2010s English-language films 2010s American films