I was initially disappointed. 

The Fox Searchlight release of “Win Win” wasn’t set to be in any of the major movie theaters here in Colorado Springs. I’d read the reviews, seen the trailer and knew the background of the wrestler-turned-actor Alex Shaffer.

The promotional leg of “Win Win” even got some ad space on TheMat.com and other wrestling websites. I was wondering if I’d get a chance to see it.

Sure enough, Kimball’s Twin Peak, a small independent theater in downtown Colorado Springs, was there to end my disappointment. I’d never been to one of those “indie” theaters. I’d always wanted to check out some of the lesser known independent movies. I’m a bit of a movie buff and really don’t have any sort of aversion to movies. My DVD collection validates this claim. I like stupid humor, sports comedies, drama, action and some outright horrible flicks – we can sometimes call those “cult” films.

A Netflix account is a wonderful thing, allowing me to see such gems as “My Name is Bruce,” a terrible but lovable homage to B-movie action star Bruce Campbell. You might know him from the Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness. 

Anyway, I searched out Kimball’s Twin Peak to see what upcoming movies they’d be showing, hoping “Win Win” would be one of their selections.

Sure enough, this past weekend, the Paul Giamatti movie hit Colorado Springs, so my wife and some friends set out to check it out. The Indie movie experience is a good one. While I didn’t partake, the opportunity is there to get an adult beverage and something to eat while in the theater. Things more “upscale” than my typical selection of popcorn and a large Cherry Coke. It’s one of the few times I’ll actually drink a “full flavor” soda. I don’t drink much of it anymore, but the movies are my one excuse.

As far as “Win Win” is concerned … I loved it. I loved every second of it. While we are feinding for the next “Vision Quest,” there have been few movies that put wrestling in a positive light. More and more are coming out, I have a list of things I still need to watch. Recently, I watched Legendary on Netflix. A sound effort, even though it was made by faux-wrestling WWE studios.

“Win Win” was a good story, a good plot, predictable at some points, and unpredictable at others. One thing I did like about the movie (without spoiling it for you) is our young wrestling hero didn’t come out like you might expect in the movies.

It came across as very real. Scenarios that enter the personal lives that impact performance. Life stories with sport as the backdrop. “Win Win” isn’t exactly a true “feel good” movie with the sports sequence. Wrestling scenes are truly believable, much of that coming from Shaffer, a New Jersey state wrestling champion making his acting debut. 

For nearly two hours, I sat and stared at the screen in the small auditorium. “Win Win” is funnier than you’d expect. From a wrestling perspective, some of the funnier moments to me were lost on many in the audience, some of the funniest scenes drew big laughs from the crowd, but I’m sure I found things funnier for different reasons than my wife did. She’s not too knowledgeable (yet) about wrestling, but she’s been around me and the sport long enough to pick up on some things the average movie-goer wouldn’t quite pick up.

I realize this review isn’t like those in Hollywood. There won’t be any Rotten Tomatoes type of acting critiques. This was just a good movie, one I’d recommend to pretty much anyone – wrestler or non-wrestler. 

Do yourself a favor. Find out where this is playing in your area and go see it. The only thing that threw me off was the R-rating. Sure, there’s a few choice words that the MPAA might deem “R,” but I’ve seen a lot more R-rated things in PG-13 movies than I did in “Win Win.” 

If you can’t see this in the theaters, just hold out until the DVD is available. It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. 

Basically, I loved the movie and that’s all I’m really trying to get say.