The bittersweet comedy about a down-on-his-luck wrestling coach (Paul Giamatti) is not as wrenching and beautiful as writer-director Thomas McCarthy’s last film, The Visitor, or as revelatory as his first, The Station Agent, but Win Win is still a pleasure. While he works without studio money, McCarthy is still creating populist entertainment, but in that sort of world, rarely does anyone write and direct with the emotional authenticity that McCarthy does. The need for a win is something that we all desire in this rather dreary world, and McCarthy gives it to us.
