Win Win - Blu-ray Review

3.9 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Academy Award® Nominee Paul Giamatti stars as a lovable yet long-suffering lawyer and high-school wrestling coach who takes us on a brilliantly heartfelt journey through the game of life...where you can't lose ’em all. When Mike Flaherty (Giamatti) comes across a teenage runaway who also happens to be a champion wrestler, Mike’s luck turns around in spectacular fashion. But his win-win situation soon becomes more complicated than he ever imagined when the boy’s family affairs come into play. Buy Now $23.99

Starring:

Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor,Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Alex Shaffer, Margo Martindale, David W. Thompson

Director:

Thomas McCarthy

Blu-ray Release Date:

August 23, 2011

Subtitles:

English SDH, Spanish

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 3.6 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison
●    Subwoofer - 3.0 Stars
●    Dialog - 5.0 Stars
●    Surround Effects - 3.0 Stars
●    Dynamic Range - 3.5 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Win Win is mostly a quite movie, with lots of dialog. It delivers the dialog perfectly, it never gets lost in the mix of music or ambient sounds. The soundtrack helps brings the movie to life and utilizes several speakers to expand the sound throughout the room. This is especially the case during the musical montage that features a song by Jon Bon Jovi being pumped through the speakers. Besides the soundtrack, bass is not a big part of the audio sound-scape.  A few sounds can be heard in the in the rear channels like crowd noises during wrestling matches and natural outdoorsy sounds. Over all this audio presentation is crisp, and fits the movie perfectly.

Video  4.7 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison
●    Color Accuracy  - 5.0 Stars
●    Shadow detail - 4.5 Stars
●    Clarity - 4.5 Stars
●    Skin tones - 5.0 Stars
●    Compression - 4.5 Stars

Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

The first thing I noticed about this Blu-ray is the clarity. It is flat out stunning, and it wasn't even filmed digitally. It's sharp enough to see the wrinkles and pores on faces without having a tight close-up on the actors. The colors are a little warm, but they look natural and help bring out the details on clothing textures and bricks on houses. Very few scenes that in the are dark or heavy shadows, but when they occur very little detail is lost and no compression artifacts are present.

Bonus Features 3.0 Stars (out of 5)

• Deleted Scenes - Mike Meets with Mrs. Tedesco, Family and Leo Drive to Courthouse
• Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni discuss WIN WIN
• David Thompson at Sundance 2011
• In Conversation with Tom McCarthy and Paul Giamatti at Sundance 2011
• Family
• “Think You Can Wait” Music Video by The National 

Movie - 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

Win Win is a relate-able story about average people stuck in an uncomfortable situation.  It's a heartwarming film that's funny without going over the top and dramatic without being sappy. The tone is perfect and doesn't need any strange twists or tricks to suck you in. It’s charm and light comedy makes this an easy watch. This film is based in reality, and if you are an adult with a family it's easy to like this movie.

I don't think I've ever seen Paul Giamatti give a bad performance, and yes I have seen him in Big Mamma's House. He plays the average man perfect, with just enough tiredness and a touch of sadness to let you know his day to day is getting to him. The whole cast is great, with one exception. Alex Shaffer plays the role of the troubled teen Alex, and this was his first acting role. I can understand that his character is supposed to be quiet and kind of shy, but he just seemed that he was uncharismatic. This stood out even more when you realize that the plot revolved around his relationship with the family. However, his performance didn't kill the film.