Win Win Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Win Win Blu-ray Movie Review

Everybody wins.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater August 25, 2011

The Great Recession has spawned it’s share of cinema over the past three years, starting with 2009’s brilliantly poignant Up in the Air, and continuing with Oliver Stone’s Wall Street indictment redux Money Never Sleeps, the corporate downsizing drama The Company Men, and a number of documentaries, from Inside Job to Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer to Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. Add one more to that list: Win Win. Directed and co-written by Thomas McCarthy—who helmed The Station Agent, one of 2003’s best films—Win Win may not be explicitly about America’s economic downturn, but the lives of its characters are certainly affected by the tightened budgets, small business struggles, and financial uncertainty with which we’re all familiar. More specifically, at the film’s core is a morally gray quandary of the how-far-would-you-go-to-make-ends-meet variety, a theme that’s as relevant to today as it is universal. McCarthy avoids casting judgment on his protagonist—played by everyman extraordinaire Paul Giamatti—instead operating on the notion that while we’re all flawed individuals to some extent, we can find redemption in honesty, love, forgiveness, and good old human decency.

Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, a small-time elder-care attorney in suburban New Jersey whose entire existence is summed up in the film’s first shot, which shows him jogging, out of breath, while two faster, trimmer runners speed by him effortlessly. The visual symbolism is clear; Mike just doesn’t have the drive or the stamina to get ahead in the world. He’s got two kids and a strong, if rather humdrum marriage with his wife, Jackie (Amy Ryan), but he hasn’t told them that his law practice is on the precarious verge of insolvency. (Lesson: if you want to make the big bucks as a lawyer, don’t specialize in advocating for the aged, infirmed, or poor.) Mike’s been having panic attacks lately, and it doesn’t help that the boiler in the basement of his office—which needs a $6,000 repair job he can’t afford—sounds like it’s about to blow at any minute. Yes, that’s another arguably over-obvious metaphor, but bear with me, there’s one more: Mike is also the head coach of New Providence High School’s puny wrestling team, which has been on an epic losing streak, a reflection of Mike’s own winless life.

Desperate for some supplementary income, Mike hatches a plan to become the court-appointed guardian of his dementia-addled client Leo Poplar (Burt Young), which would supply him with an extra $1,500 a month. But here’s where the moral iffiness comes in. Instead of caring for Leo in the old man’s home, Mike moves him into a nursing facility, telling him that it was the court’s decision. (It wasn’t.) So, basically, Mike doesn’t have to do anything, but still gets that fat check every four weeks. He justifies his actions by reasoning that this is better than the alternative—for Leo to become a ward of the state—but does Mike really have his client’s best interests at mind?

Of course, there’s always a complication, and in this case it occurs when Leo’s sixteen-year-old grandson, Kyle (Alex Schaffer), shows up in town, looking for a place to stay after having run away from his in-and-out-of-rehab mother, Cindy (Melanie Lynskey). He’s a taciturn kid, agreeable and reserved, although he’s a little rough around the edges—see his smoking habit and back tattoos—a result of having to fend for himself for so many years. Since Leo is now Mike’s problem, Kyle becomes Mike’s concern too, and Jackie patently refuses to send the kid packing back to Ohio. There’s only one solution: they invite him to live in their basement.

If you’ve seen either of McCarthy’s previous films—The Station Agent and The Visitor—you’ll know he has a thing for stories that involve improvised families forced into proximity and, inevitably, love. Win Win is no different in that regard; Kyle’s presence has a rejuvenating effect on everyone and he quickly becomes an integral part of the household. It might seem slightly contrived that he also happens to be a kick-ass wrestler who teaches the NPHS team a few new tricks and leads them to their first victory in years, but McCarthy overcomes this unlikelihood by giving us characters who otherwise seem real and relatable. Even small parts, like Mike’s assistant coaches—aimless accountant Vigman (Jeffrey Tambor) and depressed recent divorcé Terry (Bobby Cannavale)—seem fleshed out and thoughtfully written.

You’ve probably already guessed that Mike’s dirty little legal secret will eventually come out, and that Kyle won’t be too happy about it, and that Cindy will show up looking for the $1,500 she could be getting paid to take care of her dad, but this predictability doesn’t hurt Win Win in the slightest. Actually, knowing that Mike’s misdeeds will ultimately be revealed gives the film a kind of pregnant tension; you know a blow up is coming, and you know it’s going to be explosive. McCarthy perhaps puts the pieces back together a bit too tidily in his dénouement, but the feel-good ending is earned.

Win Win works beautifully as a character study of middle-aged anxiety, and Mike’s no-one-has-to-know ethical slip-up is handled with surprising emotional complexity. We know Mike is wrong, and we know Mike knows he’s wrong, but we also see the other side—the financial fears, the “win win” justifications, and Mike’s acknowledgement that he needs to make things right in the end. Paul Giamatti is perfect for this role; he’s extremely adept at playing flawed but well-meaning malcontents, and here he’s somehow funny, sadly pathetic, and noble all at the same time. Watching Mike extricate himself from the tricky situation of his own making is a joy, and a reminder that losing gracefully is itself a form of winning.

Win Win Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

With more and more indie dramas going for all-digital productions, it's always good to see one that's shot beautifully on film. McCarthy lacks a discernable visual style as a director—beyond "flat" and "unobtrusive"—but his DP Oliver Borkelberg's cinematography is rich and nicely lit, largely realistic but perhaps slightly warmer and more vivid than a staunch true-to-life approach. The film's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer looks wonderful, with a print that's impeccable and untouched by edge enhancement or excessive noise reduction techniques. The film's grain structure is tight and easy on the eyes, fine enough to allow a strong degree of clarity. There's plenty of high definition detail on display here, from the textures of sweatshirts and wrestling uniforms to the wrinkles and pores on the actors' faces. Color is great too; the overall tonal cast has an almost creamy quality—a bit more yellowish than true white—and the palette is dominated by dense neutrals and the bright yellow and green NPHS colors. Black levels are solid and contrast is even-keeled, although the image as a whole could probably stand to be a few notches brighter. Finally, there are no compression or encode issues. Win Win probably looks exactly as it ought to.

Win Win Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

You'd be right to assume that, as the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track of a family drama/comedy, Win Win's sound mix is mostly quiet, restrained, and heavy on dialogue. And it gets it right. Vocals are always clean and unmuffled, balanced and easy to understand. The rear channels are mostly used for light but effective ambience, like outdoorsy sounds and the crowd noise at wrestling matches. This is never particularly loud or involving, but it doesn't really need to be. Lyle Workman's original music sounds great, and the track occasionally gets a blast of all-surrounding Jon Bon Jovi. (Amy Ryan's character is a huge fan.) This mix does what it needs to do with little embellishment, and that's fine by me. The disc also includes a French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dubs and optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Win Win Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 1:54): Two extremely short deleted scenes.
• Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni discuss Win Win (1080p, 6:29): Co-writer/director Tom McCarthy and co-writer Joe Tiboni talk about the origin of the film's plot, which was cherry-picked from details of Joe's life.
• David Thompson at Sundance 2011 (1080p, 2:27): Here, we follow Kyle's 90lb-weakling buddy "Stemmler" around Sundance.
• In Conversation with Tom McCarthy and Paul Giamatti at Sundance 2011 (1080p, 2:26): A short conversation with the director and star, mixed with clips from the film. EPK fluff, pretty much.
• Family (1080p, 2:24): Another EPK-style promo, with soundbyte interviews and clips from the film.
• "Think You Can Wait" Music Video by The National (1080p, 4:35)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:22)

Win Win Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I knew next to nothing about Win Win going in, but I was surprised by how deftly it manages to avoid both the forced "quirkiness" of most indie family dramas and the age-old conventions of underdog sports movies. This is a funny, emotionally rich film that's well-written and enjoyable in a meat- and-potatoes-moviemaking kind of way. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray looks and sounds wonderful, so if you're interested, I see no reason not to pick this one up. Recommended.