Foxcatcher

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2015)

I saw the trailer for this sports themed film, it definitely looked like something I would like, and I was fascinated by the comedy star from The 40 Year Old Virgin playing a serious role, and with Oscar buzz I went to see it, from Oscar nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball). Based on true events, Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is invited by eccentric multi-millionaire heir John du Pont (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Steve Carell) to help form a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he will move on to the du Pont estate and use his new state-of-the-art training facility. Schultz jumps at the opportunity hoping to focus on his training, to regain his former fame and glory, and finally step out of the shadow of his well-respected brother David 'Dave' Schultz (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Mark Ruffalo). Backing Schultz's bid for Gold and driven by hidden needs, du Pont sees this opportunity as the chance to "coach" a team of world-class wrestlers, "Team Foxcatcher", to become elusively respected by his peers, and more importantly his disapproving mother Jean (Vanessa Redgrave). Mark is flattered by the attention being gained for his work, and he is entranced by the majestic world in which du Pont lives, seeing his benefactor as a father figure, and growing increasingly dependent on his approval. The changing personality of du Pont sees him initially supportive towards Mark at first, but then this turns and he begins to lure him into an unhealthy lifestyle threatening to undermine his training, and eventually du Pont's behaviour becomes erratic as he plays cruel psychological games with him and the athlete's already shaky self-esteem becomes more eroded. Later Dave becomes the fixation for du Pont, he ignores the lacking confidence of both him and Mark, these are things he knows that money cannot buy, the increasing paranoia and alienation toward the brothers follows the trio all the way to the big sporting events. In the end the story of the three men propels to an unexpected and tragic conclusion no-one could have foreseen, where years later du Pont drives to Dave's home, and with no real explanation du Pont shoots Dave at close range three times and drives off, Dave dies in the arms of his wife Nancy (Sienna Miller), the end sees Mark competing in a cage fighter. The closing text tells that Dave was posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame, he is survived by two children, Mark gave up professional wrestling to become a teacher, du Pont was found guilty of being mentally ill and third degree murder, he was named richest tried murderer in America, he died of natural causes in 2010 whilst in prison. Also starring Anthony Michael Hall as Jack, Guy Boyd as Henry Beck, Brett Rice as Fred Cole and Jackson Frazer as Alexander Schultz. Carell is almost unrecognisable behind the brilliant makeup as the unattractive, twisted and weird sponsor and control freak to the sportsmen, Ruffalo is terrific as the athlete who he switches the attention of later, and Tatum is good as the not too bright unappreciated fighter who wants to prove himself. I am firstly going to say that I watched this film all the way through, to be absolutely honest, it is not completely my kind of thing, I found it a bit too talkative and not too much sport, the lack of music certainly makes that obvious, but it certainly works as a psychological game of wits, and you cannot deny the fantastic performances, a watchable drama based on a true story. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama. Very good!