For a film supposedly about wrestling, there is not actually all that much wrestling in Foxcatcher. In fact, as is so often the way with these things, the real fight comes in the form of a power struggle away from the arena itself. For this is the true story of Mark Shultz (Channing Tatum) a wrestler and medal winner at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Three years later, he is invited to help form a wrestling team for the forthcoming Seoul Olympics by wealthy eccentric John du Pont (Steve Carell). Eager to escape the shadow of his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), who is another acclaimed wrestler and a likeable family man, Mark understandably leaps towards this lucrative opportunity.
However what should be a chance to live his dream becomes more complex, not least due to du Pont’s erratic behaviour.
Foxcatcher attracted a fair amount of Oscar buzz and it’s easy to see why. It’s a thoughtful, slow moving film, and most of the cast are on career best form. Tatum is a revelation to anyone who chiefly knows him for the 21 Jump Street comedies, while a bearded Mark Ruffalo is great as always as his well meaning older brother.
It is Steve Carell who steals the film, however, as the increasingly creepy scion of the du Pont family, John. True, he could hardly fail to in such an attention grabbing role. He has so much make up on that you almost wonder why they didn’t cast another actor entirely, particularly as, judging by photos, he still doesn’t look very much like the man himself anyway.
However, while this isn’t Carell’s first attempt to prove himself beyond his comedy origins (Little Miss Sunshine provides an earlier example of Carell stretching his dramatic wings), his gradual unveiling of du Pont as an apparently genuinely patriotic, socially maladjusted sports enthusiast into something increasingly more dangerous, probably represents his best performance to date.
Overall Verdict: A brooding, well made sports movie characterised by an underlying sense of impending disaster.
Special Features:
Deleted scenes
The Story of Foxcatcher Featurette
Reviewer: Chris Hallam