Pity poor Thomas McCarthy. The writer-director, who occasionally acts in other people’s work, has made two great films. “The Station Agent” (2003) was a masterful debut, a charming film about a dwarf obsessed by trains who finally and reluctantly makes friends. “The Visitor” was the best film of 2008, a moving character study of another loner who opens up, this time through the transcendent language of music. So when he makes a solid but slightly uninspired film, a critic can’t help but be disappointed. Coming from almost any other filmmaker, “Win Win” would rate as an above-average drama, with a number of laughs to leaven its tough heart. And it is. But coming from McCarthy, it feels like a rehash of often-explored themes that tries too hard to be both funny and touching.

Paul Giamatti is Mike Flaherty, a small-time lawyer whose practice is getting smaller all the time. He has a wife, Jackie (Amy Ryan), and two adorable girls to feed, so when he sees a chance to make some easy cash, he jumps on it. He becomes legal guardian to one of his clients, stuffing the old man into a nursing home while pocketing a substantial fee each month to take care of him.

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