Just got out of the Win WIn press junket. Tom McCarthy’s third movie moves him to the top of American writer directors. Paul Giamatti who plays Win Win’s morally conflicted lead notes that McCarthy “writes very precise characters, and as an actor himself he has compassion for actors. With Tom you don’t get bogged down in exposition.”
Another actor in the movie, Alex Shaffer appears in his first role ever playing a high school wrestling champion. In real life Shaffer is a state champion from New Jersey. His look in the film, bleached blond hair, was how he came to the audition. The entire team he plays on had dyed their hair like that to psych out opponents.
McCarthy comically notes its the first film set in the world of high school wrestling since Vision Quest. McCarthy adds that the dialogue for a good movie doesn’t have to be understood so much as a component of the story. For instance there are a lot of terms dealing with the technical side of scoring in wrestling. “In The Wire,” remarks McCarthy who plays a reporter in that series, “we often never explained to the audience what we’re talking about, but they get the meaning.” And so it is with WIn Win. Win WIn will have its southwest premiere tonight at SXSW and opens in April.
- Michael Bergeron