Olympic Dreams-Win Win

Quite a few films about teen sports often focus on the man behind the team--the coach.  In Win Win, we see that coach struggle with his own faults that he first sees as a moral good, but then digs himself into a deep hole that he almost cannot get out of.

Paul Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, whose dayjob is as a lawyer.  During his off hours he coaches the local high school's boys wrestling team, and unfortunately the team is not very good.  One of Mike's cases involves the estate of an elderly man Leo (Burt Poplar) who needs increased medical care so cannot live alone at home anymore.  When told that Leo's estate can pay someone for his care, Mike takes on this additional job as he needs the money for repairs to his office and basic needs.

At first Mike sees it as a win-win for both Leo and himself, both getting something they need.  Then Leo's estranged grandson comes to visit, but really to escape the inattention and strained relationship with his mother (Melanie Lynskey).  Teen Kyle (Alex Shaffer) begins to live with Mike's family when Mike sees that he is a pretty talented wrestler.  Naturally Mike recruits him for his team, which begins winning, and he becomes lax in his attention to Leo and mistakes are made.  This slippery slope gets more slippery when Kyle's mother comes to claim him.

Past seven days

An eclectic mix this week.

Fat Kid Rules the World
Gas, Food, Lodging
Let the Bullets Fly
Nothing Personal
Step Up Revolution

Olympic Dreams--Fighting

You know how I figured out the movie was over? The pretty boy fighter finally got a bloody nose.

Shawn (Channing Tatum) lives in a dingy hotel in New York City. No explanation of why. He sells crappy used books in the street, where one day he meets two people who will--gasp!--change his life!! One is a beautiful girl (you knew that was coming; she's played by Zulay Henao). The other is Harvey (Terence Howard, the only actor and character worth mentioning), a small time hustler that is getting by.

Harvey sees Shawn beat off some street toughs and after another chance meeting convinces Shawn to be an underground fighter for big bucks. His purses go from $5,000, to $10,000, to $30,000 and finally the big $100K fight (where he finally gets his pretty boy looks dirtied a little).

Love For Rent

This low budget romantic dramedy shows the desperate act an immigrant goes through in order to stay in America--a Colombian Sofia (Angie Cepeda) has married to stay in the U.S. and studies to become a lawyer, but her husband absconds with everything she owns, threatening her immigrant status. She can't get him arrested because he threatens to report her. But that is not the desperate act I am referring to.

One day a fender bender she is involved in with an affluent couple (Nora Dunn, Jim Piddock) leads to an opportunity--the childless couple asks her to become their surrogate mother for a big fee. Sofia takes this job but does not tell her new boyfriend, the emergency room doctor she met after the car accident (Ken Marino). Sofia also watches out for the little foster son of some disinterested neighbors, and the three of them--Sofia, boyfriend Neil and little Max--become an unconventional family.

Past seven days

Another anniversary date for an old movie means it was re-released to theatres.  I've never seen Dirty Dancing before, have you?  Despite being set in the 1960s, it has a dated 80s vibe and its romance and comedy is pretty corny now.

Blind Date
Dirty Dancing
Fried Green Tomatoes
Killer Joe
Ruby Sparks
Shut Up, Little Man
Trishna
Trucker
The Wolberg Family