This movie is good in so many ways. Mainly it has a fantastic cast that does a great job with what they were given. Paul Giamatti is the lawyer / dad / wrestling coach. He is the straight man in this, the guy who has too much on his plate and makes a bad decision at the beginning of the film. It's that bad decision that keeps this from being a really good movie. The audience knows this is the built-in conflict, just like the fake break-up in a romantic comedy. It lessens the film. We know it will work out.
Nevertheless, this is so much better than most movies you will see. The supporting cast is a dream. Amy Ryan (The Wire) plays the wife, the two best friends are Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) and Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch, Station Agent), and these guys steal scenes. The film treads as a comedy because of these guys. And then we have Paulie from Rocky (Burt Young), and one of my favs, Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Ever After, and the crazy neighbor in Two and a Half Men). These guys rock the film, and the director, Thomas McCarthy, does a great job giving them them time to show their stuff. The kid wrestler, Alex Shaffer, is fantastic - a real natural. This is his first film.
But the movie is really predictable, which holds it down. It's a writing problem, and the director was also the writer. Well, I'm jealous. It may not be perfect, but it's way better than I can do.
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