Win Win

Impressions before seeing it
Looked like it would be good. I like these little inspirational indie comedies.

How was it?
It went in a slightly different direction than I thought it would, but I always give points for not being predictable, so that's cool. It's not an underdog sports movie like I suspected it might be. What Win Win is about, is the kinds of things one does for love and through pain. Mike (Paul Giamatti), a lawyer and part-time high school wrestling coach, puts an elderly client of his into a home so that he can collect money he desperately needs to support his family, and then takes in the old man's grandson, who turns out to be a wrestling prodigy, so he can use him to boost his failing wrestling team. In Mike's eyes - and ours, since he's our protagonist - he's doing these things with good intentions. We know he's not a dick. But at the same time, those actions can easily be seen as conniving. This is the thing about good deeds vs. good intentions. The end result might be the same, but only the former guarantees gratitude and respect. We've seen this on Breaking Bad as well. The recipient of your good intentions might not want your resulting offering because of what you had to do to get it. They don't want you doing horrible things on their behalf, and that pretty much negates the good intentions angle.

In that sense, the title Win Win is ironic, because there's just as much losing in this movie as there is winning. However, there is no slash in the title so it's not referring to a win/win situation, nor is the movie presenting us with one. I think it is referring to two seperate wins: Mike, who has generally been losing at life until this situation happened to him, and the grandson, who has a troubled past but is overcoming it, as well as inspiring greatness in the mediocre wrestling team.

Anyway, as a dramedy this movie hits all of the right notes without losing credibility anywhere. The kid playing the grandson turned in a really great, low-key performance that very much reminded me of teenagers I've met. It was his first movie, too, so kudos to him.

Recommendation
Not quite the inspirational tale I was hoping for, but I'm glad I watched it. You don't have to be a fan of wrestling - I'm not - and it's not about the wrestling anyway. This is a movie for people who want a family drama with some laughs sprinkled on top. Nothing wrong with that when all of the elements work.