Rent Win Win (2011)
3.5 of 5 from 107 ratings
1h 41min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Paul Giamatti stars as a lovable yet long-suffering lawyer and high school wrestling coach who takes us on a brilliantly heartfelt journey through the game of life...where you can't lose 'em all. When Mike Flaherty (Giamatti) comes across a teenage runaway who also happens to be a champion wrestler, Mike's luck turns around in spectacular fashion. But his win-win situation soon becomes more complicated than he ever imagined when the boy's family affairs come into play.
- Actors:
- Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Alex Shaffer, Margo Martindale, David W. Thompson, Mike Diliello, Nina Arianda, Marcia Haufrecht, Sharon Wilkins, Clare Foley, Penelope Kindred, Sophia Kindred, Tim Ransom, Nicholas Somers, Jacqueline Brogan, Marceline Hugot
- Directors:
- Thomas McCarthy
- Producers:
- Lisa Maria Falcone, Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London, Thomas McCarthy
- Writers:
- Thomas McCarthy, Joe Tiboni
- Studio:
- 20th Century Fox
- Genres:
- Comedy, Sports & Sport Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/01/2012
- Run Time:
- 101 minutes
- Languages:
- English Audio Description Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Deleted Scenes
- Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni discuss 'Win Win'
- David Thompson at Sundance 2011
- Family Featurette - the cast discuss their characters
- "Think You Can Wait" Music Video by The National
More like Win Win
Found in these customers lists
Reviews of Win Win
Critic review
Win Win review by Melissa Orcine - Cinema Paradiso
Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a lawyer, a loving husband and doting father to two small children, but without clients and cases to work on, he has no income to speak of and as a family man, this is a disaster. Even when down on his luck Mike still volunteers as a wrestling coach at the local high school. But his dissatisfaction in life can’t even be satiated since his wrestling team is more famous for losing than winning.
To make ends meet, Mike devises a plan and it involves illegally taking advantage of Leo (Burt Young), a senior citizen suffering from dementia. As Mike secures his finances, the old man’s teenage grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) appears and Mike learning that the kid is good at wrestling takes him in. What began as Mike’s losing battle turns into a ‘Win Win’ situation. Or is it?
From writer-director Thomas McCarthy (‘The Station Agent’, ‘The Visitor’) comes another indie film filled with colorful characters in the pursuit of unlikely forming of relationships and accidental happiness. Subtle and not-so-over-the-top, ‘Win Win’ highlights a despondent man’s search for fulfillment. Paul Giamatti (‘Sideways’, ‘Cinderella Man’) embodies the quiet desperation of his character, having mastered this personality over the course of other indie films before.
This time, however, Giamatti’s Mike Flaherty has a sunny disposition albeit mired by dishonest practices and ulterior motives, but he manages to have the audience root for him to win. Amy Ryan as Giamatti’s wife is a formidable partner, witty and sweet but with hints of spark. Their ‘adopted’ son in the film Alex Shaffer plays his angst-y teenager low-key and it works because it’s the quiet ones that you need to look out for. His unraveling of his character Kyle is worth watching. ‘Win Win’ also wins with its other support cast: Burt Young, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, and specially Melanie Lynskey (‘Heavenly Creatures’) who plays Kyle’s feisty newly out-of-rehab alcoholic mother.
‘Win Win’ is typical indie fare and indie films are almost always an acquired taste. What it lacks in style it more than makes up for in substance.