Sorry, ‘The Iron Claw!’ This Is Still the Best Wrestling Movie

While there are films about professional wrestling circuits, the number of films about “real” wrestling is actually few and far between. This isn’t all that surprising. Considering how many pro wrestlers, such as Dave Bautista and Dwayne Johnson, have tried their hand at acting, the two mediums tend to coincide. Additionally, the performative nature of professional wrestling makes it slightly easier for filmmakers to construct a story with plot points that resemble a dramatic film. However, the best sports movies in recent memory are rarely just about a competition. Thomas McCarthy’s 2011 dramedy Win Win is a great wrestling movie because it’s a story about unlikely family bonds and mentorship that uses wrestling as a means to tie the characters together.

Win Win

A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach’s chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life.

Release Date

April 15, 2011

Director

Tom McCarthy

Runtime

106 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

‘Win Win’ Shows the Positive Impact of Wrestling

Win Win centers on the small-town attorney Mike Flaherty, portrayed by Paul Giamatti in one of his best performances, who has a part-time job as an assistant wrestling coach at a high school to provide some additional income. While it’s suggested that Mike may have once been a talented wrestler, he has lost all sense of enthusiasm for the sport at the beginning of Win Win. Coaching is now just a job for Mike, and he’s willing to take some shady actions to avoid his responsibilities. After realizing that his court-appointed client, Leo Poplar (Burt Young), will receive a generous government stipend due to his struggles with dementia, Mike decides to become Leo’s guardian to make a profit.

Like all great sports movie heroes, Mike’s selfish scheme ends up shackling him with additional responsibilities. Although becoming Leo’s guardian means that he will reap the financial benefits, it also means that Mike is responsible for Leo’s grandson, Kyle Timmons (Alex Schaffer). Kyle is simply looking to stay with his grandfather to avoid his hectic home life with his mother, Cindy (Melanie Lynskey). Kyle breaks into his grandfather’s home, forcing Mike’s wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) to ask her husband to step in and look after the boy. To keep him occupied, Mike brings him to practice and discovers that Kyle is a great wrestler. Although neither Kyle nor Mike is inherently drawn to wrestling, it ends up being an activity that draws them together. By becoming Kyle’s coach and mentor, Mike has a redemptive arc that falls in line with classic family sports movies.

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Win Win stands out in comparison to other sports films from the 21st century because it puts equal emphasis on the coach and athlete. The story begins with Mike’s perspective and shows how his frustrations with his marriage and job have made him unsuccessful as a coach. After he starts taking the job seriously through his mentorship of Kyle, Mike realizes that he can bring this same passion to all aspects of his life. However, Kyle’s perspective is given an equal amount of focus, as the film shows why wrestling is a positive force in his life. Kyle’s difficult home life has given him feelings of aggression that he has a hard time expressing; being in the ring gives him the perfect opportunity to use his heightened emotions for the sake of personal achievement. The film doesn’t lionize either Mike or Kyles’ toxic behavior because it shows how they become a positive influence on each other’s lives.

‘Win Win’ Is About Found Family

Win Win succeeds because it is about found family, and emphasizes how even an individual sport like wrestling still involves a team. Mike works to coach the team alongside the accountant Stephen Vigman (Jeffrey Tambor) and his best friend, Terry Delfino (Bobby Cannavale). While none of these characters have traditional coaching methods, they each have different takeaways from matches, and the diversity of perspective strengthens the team. Win Win is a movie about outsiders, so it makes sense that the team’s coaches wouldn’t necessarily take a traditional approach to training and competition. The banter between Giamatti, Cannavale, and Tambor also adds a great sense of humor to the film. Mike is such an angry, embittered character that it was important to have a few endearing side characters who could lighten the mood.

While the odd training regime that Mike utilizes adds some physical humor to the film, his relationship with Kyle is taken seriously. Both characters are forced to acknowledge that they have been going down untenable paths. Kyle had been looking to escape his home life, and his negative experiences had made him skeptical about showing passion for anything. Similarly, it had been so long since Mike truly invested in anything that he had lost sight of his priorities. The film is remarkably candid in its depiction of loneliness and depression and gives both characters room to express the direction that their lives are headed. Although the film never lionizes Mike’s manipulative actions, it does give him the capacity for redemption.

‘Win Win’ Isn’t Just About Wrestling

While it’s exciting to see Kyle compete in the pivotal competition scenes, Win Win has more on its mind than just wrestling. McCarthy, who also directed The Station Agent and the 2016 Best Picture winner Spotlight, uses the wrestling competition as an intersection to explore exploitative legal practices, drug addiction, marital conflict, and the flaws within the education program. Wrestling is just one aspect of the film’s characters’ lives, and they aren’t defined by what they do in the ring. McCarthy doesn’t adhere to sports movie clichés either, as he concludes the film in a way that is both endearing and authentic.

Win Win is a beautiful “slice of life” movie about lonely characters who find a mutual passion. Although wrestling is merely the factor that draws them together, Win Win treats the sport of wrestling with respect and uses it to tie its protagonists together. While Win Win doesn’t require the viewer to know anything about wrestling, its universal themes make it the rare film that appeals to both wrestling buffs and novices.

Win Win is available to buy or rent on Apple TV.

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