Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan give wonderful performances in this charming film about family and the unexpected detours that life throws our way sometimes. Director Thomas McCarthy has previously brought us the wonderfully quirky The Station Agent (2003) and the touching film The Visitor (2007). If there is one thing that he excels at, it is showing us that some of the most profound relationships blossom from the most surprising circumstances.
Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, an attorney who is barely scraping by. Rather than choose a lucrative position, he works in a dingy no-frills office protecting the elderly and indigent. His furnace is threatening to explode, and his office-mate Stephen (Jeffrey Tambor) doesn’t have any money, either. They both volunteer time to the local high school wrestling team as coaches. To say the team is terrible is an understatement.
Mike suffers a massive panic attack (certainly the most hilarious I’ve seen on screen) and decides something must be done. His wife has no idea how dire things are, and out of desperation, he makes a really poor decision. Mike tells the state that he will become the legal guardian of his client Leo (Burt Young) so that he can carry out the man’s wishes to remain in his own home.
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