Win Win
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: March 18, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 24, 2011
In spirit, and sheer joie de vivre, it's everything the movie business should aspire to. Win Win exemplifies movies the way they oughtta be. Read full review
100
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyMar 5, 2011
A film with a big heart; it's an eccentric dramedy and a crowd pleaser. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 31, 2011
Shaffer's inexperience pays off. He's completely natural as a mixed-up kid (and great on the mat). Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 7, 2011
Blessed is the go-for-it movie that can make room for dissonances and weirdness. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonApr 8, 2011
It's an original that plays as if it were based on a novel. Read full review
88
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreApr 6, 2011
With Win Win, McCarthy has found his emotional sweet spot, a sweet and complex story to set it in and the perfect title for it. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 24, 2011
Confident enough to simply go with the exotica of average middle-class Americans who are well-intentioned, flawed, and dog-paddling like crazy to keep their heads above water. There's nothing at all unusual about them, and that's unusual. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 17, 2011
The story feels believable as a witty chronicle of human behavior, in contrast with the self-consciously satirical style of some indie films and the far-fetched heroics of big studio fare. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 10, 2011
This movie wins you over, head and heart, without cheating. It's just about perfect. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMar 31, 2011
A gentle movie with heart, spirit and wit. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 16, 2011
Win Win, it turns out, isn't a tale of facile victory. It's a movie about how loss makes everyone do things they'll both defend and regret. Read full review
80
TimeMary PolsMar 21, 2011
The story wraps up with a tenderness that feels true but completely without mush. The irony of the title fades as Win Win wins you over. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 18, 2011
There's a wonderfully steely spine inside of Tom McCarthy'sWin Win," but it's hard to see at first because it's inside the doughy, everyman person of Paul Giamatti. Read full review
80
MovielineMichelle OrangeMar 17, 2011
Warmly observed and solicitous of its audience to the point of caress, Win Win is as comfortable an experience at the movies as you might have this year. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 17, 2011
Pure pleasure to experience. Written and directed by Tom McCarthy with an impeccable feel for off-center human comedy at its funniest and most heartfelt, its low-key qualities are so relaxed and unforced every moment feels like a gift. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 5, 2011
Think "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Little Miss Sunshine." In many ways, Win Win fits that mold, which should make it McCarthy's most broadly appealing movie to date. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 8, 2011
The kind of indie gem that doesn't come around nearly often enough -- and, when they do, often not enough people go to see them. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 31, 2011
The same kind of keen, empathetic observations that made "The Station Agent" and "The Visitor" so illuminating are at play here, too. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 30, 2011
I'm happy I saw Win Win. It would have been possible to be happier. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMar 24, 2011
The effect is an endearing and plainspoken clarity that stops just short of naturalism; the people in his movies don't seem real, exactly, but we end up caring about them as though they were. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 24, 2011
The film offers plenty of good screen company along the way. Read full review
75
NPRScott TobiasMar 18, 2011
All these characters make a beautiful mess together, even if McCarthy spends too much time tidying it up. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickMar 18, 2011
It's a bit less good than McCarthy's earlier films -- Jeffrey Tambor has a large, superfluous role that abruptly disappears, and Ryan, a fine actress, makes a less than entirely convincing spouse for Giamatti. This one is a crowd-pleaser nonetheless. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonMar 17, 2011
Win Win is less quirky than "The Station Agent" and less soulful (and political) than "The Visitor," but it still does little to buck the trend. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMar 24, 2011
A thoughtful and admirably nuanced moral drama. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 17, 2011
Win Win goes a bit soft in places, protecting its characters from serious danger or tough moral reckoning. But the film's niceness is also central to its appeal, because nearly all of the characters are people you enjoy spending time with. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 6, 2011
The standout in Win Win is Alex Shaffer, a former New Jersey state champion cast as Kyle. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie OgleApr 7, 2011
In the end the film stacks up just this side of twee, as the sort of quirky fare that's passably entertaining without ever offering anything real or remarkable. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMar 24, 2011
Win Win is a paragon of truth at a slow jog, but that upbeat sprint to the finish feels like a big cheat. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie ErrigoMay 16, 2011
Funny, agreeable and thoroughly enjoyable, if a little bit too neat and fortuitous in sorting out its entangled strands. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 15, 2011
No matter how predictable his arc is, writer-director Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent) never loses sight of the difficulties of cashflow and making one's weekly nut. You'll want to give his movie-and his secret weapon, the lovably neurotic Bobby Cannavale, as a recent divorcé hoping to co-coach the team-a pass for sweetness. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 7, 2011
In his short career (The Station Agent, The Visitor), McCarthy has established himself as a craftsman of conventionally quirky pictures that are ENTIRELY about ingratiating themselves with the audience. Read full review
50
Village VoiceKarina LongworthMar 15, 2011
A "quirky" dramedy in the "Juno"/"Little Miss Sunshine" mode, but lacking the latter's vibrant ensemble and the former's snappy patter, Win Win is indie with the edges sanded down completely. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 5, 2011
A disappointing domestic comedy in which all but the audience get what they want. Read full review
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