Giamatti, McCarthy & Seachlight score a Win Win

No surprise critics are finding the golden indie elements of a Sundance premiere, Fox Searchlight, director Tom McCarthy and Paul Giamatti a winning combination. David Edelstein, New York Magazine:

It‚Äôs not clear what the title refers to specifically, but the movie has ‚Äúwin win‚Äù all over it. The smarts of the writer-director, Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor), are on view from the opening shot, the camera behind Giamatti on a jogging path as he staggers to a halt, stares ahead at nothing, and gets passed on either side by a pair of peppy runners…

This is a symphony of marvelous voices: Giamatti’s most of all, and also Bobby Cannavale as his best friend, Terry, a hearty flake who attaches himself to the wrestling team to forget his failed marriage. Shaffer, a young wrestler in his acting debut, uses his lack of film experience to suggest a lack of life experience, uncomfortably contained until he opens up in the gymnasium, the master of his tiny realm.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone:

Director Tom McCarthy is some kind of wizard. In his hands, simple stories (The Station Agent, The Visitor) take on the gritty texture and emotional heft of life as it’s lived, not contoured by Hollywood. Win Win, which he wrote with Joe Tiboni, is McCarthy’s latest gem, hilarious and heartfelt with a tough core that repels all things sappy. Paul Giamatti gives a master class in acting as Mike Flaherty, a New Jersey lawyer specializing in elder care and, lately, in cutting corners…

Newcomer Shaffer is an expert wrestler, and it shows; so does his natural talent. His scenes with Giamatti floor you. Nothing fancy ‚Äî that’s not McCarthy’s style. Neither is phony rah-rah. This movie wins you over, head and heart, without cheating. It’s just about perfect.

The trades are split, with Variety’s Peter Debruge calling it a “disappointing domestic comedy. But David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter says this is Giamatti’s “best role since Sideways”:

Fox Searchlight has carved a robust niche in the past with releases that center on underdogs and borderline losers enduring without sacrificing a firm sense of who they are. Think Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine. In many ways, Win Win fits that mold, which should make it McCarthy’s most broadly appealing movie to date.