The day before I saw Win Win it was described to me as well directed, had a few laughs and made you leave the cinema with a smile on your face. And that probably best sums it up.
Paul Giamatti plays a small town lawyer Mike Flaherty whose practice is edging closer to financial collapse. He persuades a judge to make him guardian of an old client with dementia so he can claim the $10,000 dollars a month allowance. He promptly puts the client in a home and pockets the cash each month. Until his client's grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) turns up having run away from his drug addicted mother, that is.
Mike coaches a local wrestling team and Kyle used to wrestle and through this mutual love the two bond. Ironically Mike gradually takes on the guardian role for Kyle that he had promised to give his grandfather. Things go awry when Kyle's mother turns up looking for a piece of the $10,000 a month action.
And yes I did laugh out loud a few times - not sure it gets the Mark Kermode comedy qualification of having five or more laughs though. It has a nicely satisfying conclusion and certainly put a smile on my face.
It's not an amazing 'oh wow' film but it has stayed with me longer than most do so I'm going to give it 63%. IMDb gives is 7.8/10 and Rotten Tomatoes UK gives it 94% from the critics and 90% from cinema-goers.
No trailer because Warner Bros say 'no' to embedding. Meanies. Go find it on YouTube.
* to see if I can and because I'm behind...and in case you are wondering 18 mins. Next time....
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