IN THE GAME OF LIFE, YOU CAN’T LOSE ‘EM ALL.
Small-town New Jersey lawyer Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is in financial trouble and makes a decision that will earn him money disingenuouslyā¦ but also settles him with a runaway 16-year-old. As in The Station AgentĀ (2003) and The Visitor (2008), Tom McCarthy portrays people warmly and intelligently, making us feel close to them; the story’s complications unfold in natural ways and high-school wrestling becomes a symbol of life’s weightier battles. Giamatti is superb as the attorney who might just have found a deal that’s a win-win for everybody involved, but McCarthy’s also reserved a perfect, colorful supporting role for his long-time buddy Bobby Cannavale.
2011-U.S. 106 min. Color.Ā Produced byĀ Tom McCarthy, Lisa Maria Falcone, Michael London, Mary Jane Skalski.Ā Written and directed byĀ Tom McCarthy.Ā Cast:Ā Paul Giamatti (Mike Flaherty), Amy Ryan (Jackie Flaherty), Bobby Cannavale (Terry Delfino), Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Alex Shaffer.
Last word: “[Not satirizing]Ā was very important. It was a top priority. Iād add to that with not patronizing, beingĀ condescending, sentimentalizing, orĀ trivializing. All those things we were trying to avoid. We talked a lot about that at every stage of production from costume design to production design to, obviously, the script stage and performance. I think theĀ beginningĀ of it was the script, which is where it always starts. I think, quite honestly, itās why I included my good friendĀ Joe Tiboni, who had never actually written a screenplay or been involved in anything like this. Heās an attorney who lives in New Providence, is married, and has two little girls. There areĀ definitely similarities between him and Mike Flaherty. That said, it stops there.” (McCarthy, Film School Rejects)
