Guilt trip

Win Win is a comedy-drama that is warm-hearted and compassionate and enjoyable without, alas, being especially remarkable or original, which is a bit of a blow but I think you’ll get over it, with bed rest and time.

Win Win is a comedy-drama that is warm-hearted and compassionate and enjoyable without, alas, being especially remarkable or original, which is a bit of a blow but I think you’ll get over it, with bed rest and time. Written and directed by Tom McCarthy, who made The Station Agent and The Visitor — two powerful character studies I could watch and rewatch into infinity — this is broader, lighter, schmaltzier and more generic, as the journey is a rather familiar one.

I’m not saying don’t go. I’m not even saying this is a poor movie, as it isn’t. I’m just saying: don’t get your hopes up too high and don’t expect the unexpected. It’s good for what it is; it’s just that what it is doesn’t add up to very much, and it won’t resonate. (Sometimes, films can go on repeating on you for years. In such instances, I would suggest saying a polite ‘excuse me’ or blaming the dog.)

Win Win is about Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti), a small-time New Jersey lawyer who is quietly panic-stricken. He is struggling to make ends meet. He loves his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) and his two young daughters, but frets about providing for them. He coaches a hopelessly bad high school wrestling team. His office boiler is cantankerous, as is the toilet. He can’t afford to fix either. He pretends he no longer smokes by buying a pack, taking one out and throwing the rest into a skip. (This tickled me because, when I pretended to not smoke, I did just that.)