WIN WIN
4 out of 5 stars

if you’re into realistic comedies w/o any cheese, phoniness, or dumbassery, this one might be for you... paul giamatti and amy ryan FTW! ;)

from the looks of it, it may be a high school wrestling movie, but it’s actually a LOT more. financially tight from a slow economy, disheartened attorney, mike flaherty (giamatti) decides to take on the guardianship of one mr. leo poplar, a senior citizen neighbor whose got the early stages of dementia. he does this to eat the monthly commission, and sticks rich mr. poplar in a really nice old folks nursing home. then, one day after church, mr. poplar’s teenage grandson kyle randomly comes to stay with him. mike finds him on the doorsteps of mr. poplar’s home, and he reluctantly takes him in. mike happens to moonlight as a HS wrestling coach, along with his friend and CPA vic (jeffrey tambor from arrested development), and pretty soon, it turns out that kyle was a wrestling champion at his old HS back in ohio! things are going great for everybody until kyle’s ex-junkie mother shows up in town demanding $ and kyle back...

the friendship between mike and his friend terry (bobby cannavale) is PRICELESS and HILARIOUS... (the scene when mike is having a panic attack while on a run with terry...haha!) great dynamic and even the relationship between mike and his kids/wife/kyle, they’re all heartfelt and genuine. i call it a realistic comedy because it keeps the story real so don’t except happy endings that just work out for the sake of working out. really well done, and i can understand why sundance liked it too... ;)