Chilling, Perverse, Somber, Provoking

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2015)

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 4.2/5 stars
Bennett Miller's new film, based on true events, is an extremely cold, creepy, and brilliant examination of the spookiest edges of the male psyche. It is methodical, deliberate, kind of heartbreaking, but mostly simply chilling. Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and Steve Carell deliver magnetic, career-topping performances in a compelling, quietly disturbing drama about sport, wealth, lost manhood, mommy issues, and murder.
Tatum and Ruffalo play real-life US wrestling champions Mark and Dave Schultz, Olympic gold Medalists both, who are conscripted by gazillion-heir John du Pont to spearhead a training unit of wrestlers with the goal of achieving success at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Exactly why du Pont wants to do such a thing with his money and, essentially, his life; how he goes about it; and how the brothers respond to him and the claustrophobic atmosphere of his camp form the sinew of this mysterious and foreboding drama.
And it is foreboding no doubt. The film is a little over two hours of menace, all cloudy skies, peculiar conversations, and chilly rooms and landscapes. du Pont is a creep and Miller and Carell don't soften him an inch. A soft-spoken man of gentle demeanor and few words, du Pont's enterprise at first seems to be fuelled by fierce patriotism. Such is the impression he wants to give. America has become beleaguered and self-hating, he believes. He wants to see it soar again, and putting together a wrestling team is one way he can do that.
Mark is readily seduced and quickly begins enjoying both success in the sport, the pleasures of upper-crust socializing, and various other perks such as an endless supply of free cocaine. Dave proves a much harder nut to crack; du Pont is almost offended when Mark tells him his initial refusals are not a matter of money. Dave's eventual submission comes with a good deal of suspicion from du Pont, a man unused to being questioned, let alone defied or denied.
Complicating matters to a level that would make Norman Bates blush, we slowly learn that underlying everything is the Vader-like presence of du Pont's mother (Vanessa Redgrave). Though now frail and ferried about in a wheelchair, she maintains an unhealthy command over her son's life and his self-regard as a man.
Attention is being called towards Steve Carell's transformative performance as the creepy John du Pont, and he's also snagged an Academy Award nomination for "Best Actor", which is totally fair enough. However, really, this film is built solidly on a remarkable three-piece ensemble, with Mark Ruffalo and to some extent Channing Tatum giving no less inspiring, and deeply skillful, performances. After many hints ("10 Years", "Side Effects", "Magic Mike") Tatum proves himself a serious dramatic actor while Ruffalo, as the older brother, brings a mesmerizingly edgy protectiveness to the fore. But this is, ultimately, Carell's film. Unrecognizable under brilliantly sculpted clumps of nose-enhancing face makeup, he simply sinks into the character of a man whose hope for his country is countered by his own self doubts.
Director Bennett Miller showed with "Capote" (2005) and "Moneyball" (2011) his mastery over slow-burn drama, where stillness both commands your attention and makes you brace for a sudden change of pace. He deploys that skill set abundantly in "Foxcatcher" to great effect, aided no end by the haunting cinematography of Australian Greig Fraser ("Last Ride", "Zero Dark Thirty", "The Gambler"). The movie is admirably restrained in keeping everyone's goals, if not obtuse, at least opaque; it's an extremely intelligent film that allows for great degrees of analysis, interpretation, and speculation. Miller's measured pacing and the film's overwhelmingly bleak tone are not geared to the YouTube generation; this is a thoughtful, adult film, and quite brilliant. Because of its deliberately slow pace it must be said that "Foxcatcher" is not for everybody. Some might simply find it too slow and possibly, even, boring. Those who respond to it, however, will find themselves sucked into a world where pride, privilege, and a sizeable measure of perversion collide.