On paper, ‘Win Win’ has everything going for it:
1. Paul Giamatti: This is what Paul does best. As a small town lawyer and volunteer high school wrestling coach, Paul, like in ‘Sideways’, straddles the fine line between being sympathetic, morally reprehensible, and a loveable teddy bear. There is just something about Paul Giamatti, in roles like this that draws the audience in and gets them to root for him even when the audience knows he’s not making good decisions. In short, this is the kinds of role Paul was born to play.
2. Amy Ryan: Every actress in Hollywood should hate Amy Ryan. She is just too dang good. So good that she makes everything she does look easy. Whether it’s playing a junkie mom in ‘Gone, Baby Gone’ or portraying the perfect foil to Steve Carell on ‘The Office’ Amy Ryan is just so darn good it hurts. And her work in ‘Win Win’ is no different. She is so natural as Paul’s wife that you feel like you’re watching a REAL couple. Their talents together create this really amazing portrait of a modern American couple trying to scrap by in a failing economy while raising their kids. Brilliant!
3. Alex Shaffer: Simply amazing. This kid was spot on and it is probably one of the best first performances I’ve ever seen by an actor his age; reminiscent of Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun) and Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People). If you see a picture of Alex in real life, you’ll see a normal clean-cut awkward looking teenager. And if I were to judge a book by its cover I would probably assume he’s pretty good in school but not overly athletic, and I would assume he has a group of very close friends but not overly popular. Just a normal kid. Well… his transformation into Kyle Timmons, the bleached hair, tattooed, cigarette smoking, wrestling prodigy is astounding. This normal looking kid channeled what I can only assume is raw, natural acting chops. Although, in real life Alex was actually a New Jersey State wrestling champion… this is probably where his similarity to Kyle ends… but what do I know. All I can say is that LOVED Alex’s performance I would really like to see the Academy give him a nod for his work... but that is another issue entirely.
4. Director/Writer Thomas McCarthy: I for one have a man-crush on Thomas McCarthy. I am a big fan of his previous movies: ‘The Station Agent’ and ‘The Visitor’… both are fantastic and if you haven’t seen them… you need to. Also, it is worth noting that Thomas helped write Pixar’s ‘Up’. In short, he is a force with an amazing track record for making excellent movies. And you might even remember Thomas from his acting work on ‘Boston Public’ and ‘The Wire’… they guy has serious talent.
5. The supporting cast: Leading performances can only take you so far… and the strength of Win Win’s supporting cast articulates one of the films on going themes: Although wrestling (much like life) is an individual struggle… it is also a team sport and success can only be achieved by trusting and supporting your team (and them trusting and supporting you). ‘Win Win’ has an arsenal of very talented and somewhat high profile supporting actors who compliment the story perfectly: Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch, The Station Agent), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Burt Young (Rocky), Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Informant!, Up in the Air), and Margo Martindale (Justified).
1. Paul Giamatti: This is what Paul does best. As a small town lawyer and volunteer high school wrestling coach, Paul, like in ‘Sideways’, straddles the fine line between being sympathetic, morally reprehensible, and a loveable teddy bear. There is just something about Paul Giamatti, in roles like this that draws the audience in and gets them to root for him even when the audience knows he’s not making good decisions. In short, this is the kinds of role Paul was born to play.
2. Amy Ryan: Every actress in Hollywood should hate Amy Ryan. She is just too dang good. So good that she makes everything she does look easy. Whether it’s playing a junkie mom in ‘Gone, Baby Gone’ or portraying the perfect foil to Steve Carell on ‘The Office’ Amy Ryan is just so darn good it hurts. And her work in ‘Win Win’ is no different. She is so natural as Paul’s wife that you feel like you’re watching a REAL couple. Their talents together create this really amazing portrait of a modern American couple trying to scrap by in a failing economy while raising their kids. Brilliant!
3. Alex Shaffer: Simply amazing. This kid was spot on and it is probably one of the best first performances I’ve ever seen by an actor his age; reminiscent of Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun) and Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People). If you see a picture of Alex in real life, you’ll see a normal clean-cut awkward looking teenager. And if I were to judge a book by its cover I would probably assume he’s pretty good in school but not overly athletic, and I would assume he has a group of very close friends but not overly popular. Just a normal kid. Well… his transformation into Kyle Timmons, the bleached hair, tattooed, cigarette smoking, wrestling prodigy is astounding. This normal looking kid channeled what I can only assume is raw, natural acting chops. Although, in real life Alex was actually a New Jersey State wrestling champion… this is probably where his similarity to Kyle ends… but what do I know. All I can say is that LOVED Alex’s performance I would really like to see the Academy give him a nod for his work... but that is another issue entirely.
4. Director/Writer Thomas McCarthy: I for one have a man-crush on Thomas McCarthy. I am a big fan of his previous movies: ‘The Station Agent’ and ‘The Visitor’… both are fantastic and if you haven’t seen them… you need to. Also, it is worth noting that Thomas helped write Pixar’s ‘Up’. In short, he is a force with an amazing track record for making excellent movies. And you might even remember Thomas from his acting work on ‘Boston Public’ and ‘The Wire’… they guy has serious talent.
5. The supporting cast: Leading performances can only take you so far… and the strength of Win Win’s supporting cast articulates one of the films on going themes: Although wrestling (much like life) is an individual struggle… it is also a team sport and success can only be achieved by trusting and supporting your team (and them trusting and supporting you). ‘Win Win’ has an arsenal of very talented and somewhat high profile supporting actors who compliment the story perfectly: Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch, The Station Agent), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Burt Young (Rocky), Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Informant!, Up in the Air), and Margo Martindale (Justified).
Ultimately I think ‘Win Win’ is a MUST see. And I really think it should be an Oscar contender… however it probably won’t. ‘Win Win’ premiered at Sundance in January and was released in theatres last March, which is way too early in the year. By the time Oscar voters start narrowing the field, they will have, more than likely, forgotten about ‘Win Win’.
As a point of reference ‘Sideways’ and ‘Lost in Translation’ were released in October, while ‘June’ and ‘Up in the Air’ were released in December. ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (released in July) is one of very few movies of this style that have been able to maintain enough momentum to get Oscar nominations.
That said, I think ‘Win Win’ has a chance for Best Original Screenplay and of course, I hope the stars align and Alex Shaffer scores a Best Supporting Actor nod, but it’s a long shot.
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