Did you catch the fox today, Mother?

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2015)

If movies have taught me anything, it's never to accept an accommodation from a man who collects stuffed birds and lives with a mysterious, reclusive mother. Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), however, doesn't look like one who watches many movies - he is shown as a huge, somber man focused solely on his training, unlike his elder brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), more genial and family-oriented.
Therefore, when millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) offers Mark economic support and a job in an isolated country mansion as coach of his personal wrestling team, Mark jumps at the chance. It doesn't take long before du Pont shows a sinister streak: usually as emotionless as a cold fish, he displays mood swings, wakes Mark up in the middle of the night for impromptu training sessions, fires a gun in the gym to gain attention; worst of all, he has an unhealthy obsession to be seen as a leader.
There are also strong homosexual undertones, with the suggestion that du Pont's penchant for training with burly young men was not merely a product of his love for sport.
Channing is fine as a dour, simple man faced with one humiliation too many. Carell, cast against type, is surprisingly creepy: with a beak-like nose and a smile as rare as it is unpleasant, his du Pont delivers endless moral platitudes, his vacuous stare showing hints of a malevolent nature. As soon as we meet him, we know it's not going to end up well between him and the Schultzes, and this tension drives the whole script.
The best is Ruffalo in the least showy role of a decent family man struggling to mediate between his brother and their boss. In a neat little scene, he has to record an interview for one of du Pont's self-celebrating documentaries. When asked to describe du Pont's influence and teachings, he struggles to distill a plausible answer from his boss' vapid inanities; deeply uncomfortable, he claims du Pont is his mentor, words sticking in his throat. However, Dave ultimately proves more resilient than Mark, which leads to unsettling developments.
A compelling psychological drama.
7,5/10