“Win Win”




 

 

Rated: R
Acorn Rating Guide:

Some films are lobster thermidor— bold and tasteful, succulently rich, the perfect occasional feast. Other films are kobe beef teppanyaki— rare morsels that dazzle the senses, unforgettable delicacies.

So many recent films, however, are of the appalling peanut butterand pickle sandwich variety—and one is amazed at just how many attempts are continually made (and promoted) hoping to cram such gruel down our throats.

But every now and then comes along a simple meat-and-potatoes story that, despite its lack of pretentiousness and Hollywood sizzle, remains, for many of us, the ultimate in cinematic “comfort food.”

“Win Win” is one such gratifying film, an often funny family drama that settles into your mind like a hearty meal after a long day at work. It is, in a single word, fulfilling.

It stars Paul Giamatti, a rare actor who can make a bad film watchable, a passable film better and who can steer a great film toward the sublime. And “Win Win” indeed borders on the sublime.

Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, a struggling New Jersey lawyer trying to muddle through an economic downturn and high school wrestling coach who prods his exasperatingly pathetic team toward their season’s first win.

When a client’s wayward grandson stumbles into the mix, Mike’s life changes. Young Kyle (Alex Shaffer) happens to be an out-of-state high-school wrestling champ, and Mike’s team could use a little help.

Although the wrestling moments are rewarding here, “Win Win” is less a sports film, more a poignant glimpse of ordinary people with dwindling fortunes who must find the courage to pull themselves up and struggle on.

Each cast member— Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor and Burt Young—is a necessary ingredient in this tale (if the Oscars offered an ensemble statue, “Win Win” would surely prevail), and yet it’s Giamatti’s performance with Shaffer—playing high-school’s sullen, secretive Everyboy—that provides the film’s exquisite flavor.

Sure, once in a while everybody needs crème bruleè, but more often than not, most of us are happy with a hearty, basic meal. Sometimes, that’s what life’s all about.

“Source Code”

Rated: PG-13
Acorn Rating Guide:

I do like my time-tripping flicks. I find myself infatuated with many of Hollywood’s attempts— even those often mediocre efforts—to outwit the clock.

“The Time Machine” (1960) may be the granddaddy of the modern time-travel flick but, for me, 1993’s “Groundhog Day” is the playful heir-apparent—one of the most original and creative of time travel’s many endeavors.

Mentioned only because “Source Code” is the yin to the yang of “Groundhog Day,” the evil twin that invokes not the perfect love story but rather the hopeful prevention of the perfect terrorist plot.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Capt. Colter Stevens, a military pilot who suddenly finds himself inhabiting the body of another man aboard a Chicago-bound commuter train about to explode.

Sound far- fetched? Well, what time-travel film isn’t? And if you can suspend your disbelief over the fact that Colter knows what’s about to happen, and why—well, now you’re in for a pretty decent ride. . . .

Over and over and over.

Does this mean “ Source Code” ever feels repetitive or boring? Au contraire. Director Duncan Jones and screenwriter Ben Ripley turn in a surprisingly complex and imaginative work in a genre where originality may appear increasingly difficult to achieve.

Aboard the train, Colter meets a lovely fellow traveler (Michelle Monaghan) for the first time, he surmises, although apparently not. Yet he has little time for chitchat; the bomb is set to detonate in eight minutes. His assignment is to prevent the bombing and thereby thwart an even more sinister consequence.

By the way, the filmmakers want us to know that “Source Code” isn’t really a time-travel flick, it’s more of a “time reassessment.” Just so you know.

And yes, as an action-thriller, “Source Code” gets a little intense— now and then a little “Twelve Monkeys” sort of intense (I mean that in a good way), and, overall, for fans of wayward time, this one’s a very nice mind-bender. I suspect you won’t know what’s going to happen and, when it does, you’re not quite certain where it’s heading next. I like that uncertainty in a film, where one of life’s most established realities can be gone in a wink.


 

 

 

 

 

 

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