Interesting character study SPOLIERS

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2019)

This is a deliberately paced movie that examines the relationship between 1984 Olympic medalist Mark Shultz and John Du Pont, of the Du Pont family. I have not read the book on which the movie is based and was only aware of the basic facts of what transpired back in 1988. I think some reviewers who rated this under a 5 thought it was going to be a feel good sports movie or action pic (I guess because Channing Tatum is in it). It's really a character study of two deeply flawed men, one of whom is so unable to grasp reality he commits murder. I thought the acting was very good by all, with Steve Carrell almost unrecognizable as Du Pont, and Tatum and the wonderful Ruffalo very sympathetic. (I have to admit Carrell does seem somnulent at times, and the pacing could have been tightened in early scenes). The biggest weakness of the movie is that it really doesn't reveal the extent of Du Pont's psychosis before the murder occurs. Although it's clear that he is grieving the loss of his relationship with Mark--and Du Pont was definitely not "all there" to begin with--there was a missed opportunity to build up suspense after Mark left. A previous reviewer questioned why Mark Shultz had become upset with Du Pont--do people watch the movie before writing their reviews?? Du Pont had been encouraging and flattering, crafting a sense of intimacy that Mark lacked in his life, then started directing the venom he had for his mom toward Mark. When he told Mark off and slapped his face in front of the team, he tore down Mark's authority. Du Pont then insisted Mark's brother Dave come to coach, when Du Pont had previously given Mark a pep talk about not needing to feel inferior to his brother. Plus he'd introduced Mark to cocaine, and as Mark's athetic performance started to suffer he spiralled down into deep depression and had a mental breakdown. So no hard feelings there (!). Anyway, it seemed like brother Dave was doing a decent job smoothing things over, then...well, I would highly recommend viewing the documentary Fox Catcher for more insight into Du Pont.