Win Win 2011

    Mike Flaherty is a disheartened attorney and he's struggling to keep his practice in business.  He thinks he's found a new money source by becoming the legal guardian of an elderly client.  The he man's grandson shows up looking for a place to stay.  Mike is also a part-time wrestling coach and he learns that Kyle was formerly a wrestler and he's good.  Kyle has had some questionable business dealings while trying to support his family??  Kyle's mother shows up and she wants to move her father to Ohio where she lives and also take her son with her.  The big reason for her actions is that she wants her father's money!!  She is broke and just out of rehab!!
 
    Of course Paul Giamatti is a sad sack but he's better this time, he makes a bad decision, thinks he will get away with it but finally does the right thing.  This film deepens and grows as it moves along.  Thomas McCarthy also wrote and directed The Station Agent 2003.  The characters seem strange and wonderful like they could be real people but they have better lines.  Alex Shaffer is a new comer as an actor.  Parents need to know that this excellent indie dramedy offers lots of wisdom.  It examines characters caught at the crossroads of mid-life through clear lenses.  They are refreshing and unburdened by cliches.  There is plenty of swearing and some mature themes.  The language is coarse but isn't used abusively.  A mother has a drug addiction and this causes her teenage boy to go adrift.  He need structure and safety.  There are plenty of stand-ups characters with flaws but they make you believe in a world of hope and optimism.  Some violence but not overly graphic.  3* (This movie is OK)

106 min, Com/Drama directed and written by Tom McCarthy and also written by Joe Tiboni with Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Alex Shaffer, Melanie Lynskey, Burt Young, David Thompson, Margo Martindale, Mike Diliello, Nina Arianda, Marcia Haufrecht, Shroan Wilkins, Clare Foley, Penelope Kindred, Sophie Kindred, Tim Ransom, Nicolas Somers.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 52,270 reviews, 94% with 175 critics 85% audience with 32,019 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 16+, Positive Messages 3*, Positive Role Models 3*, Violence 1*, sex 1*, language 4*, consumerism 0*, drinking, drugs, smoking 2*. 

Special Note:  Alex Shaffer was a New Jersey state high school wrestling champion the year before this film was made.  Amy Ryan partially accepted her role in this film because she had played such a notoriously bad mom in Gone Baby Gone 2007.   She thought Jackie represented a good mom.  Tom McCarthy co-wrote this movie with his childhood buddy and wrestling teammate, Joe Tiboni.  New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey is featured in this film because it is the alma mater of Tom McCarthy.