Dark story centered around wrestling told by excellent performances

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2015)

There is not much talking but this disturbing story based on real events is told in a very compelling way.
The central characters are two brothers who won Olympic gold medals in wrestling and a multi-millionaire heir to the Du Pont empire, portrayed brilliantly by Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell. The younger brother is fully focused on his training for the next Olympics, 1988 Seoul, and is excited to accept an offer of the eccentric philanthropist to train at his state-of-the-art facility. It is an opportunity for him to get out of the shadow of his older brother who was always in charge. The motives of John Du Pont are slowly coming into focus through his increasingly disturbing behaviour conveyed by Steve Carell in a haunting fashion.
This is not an action-packed movie but the storytelling is real, with just a glimpse into the world of wrestlers. Superb acting by Channing Tatum in a very different role than his usual. He does not have much dialog but he makes up for it in a lot of blank stares. And it took me a while to even recognize Steve Carell as he flawlessly portrayed the slimy and cold narcissist. A very comical scene when Du Pont coaches his protégé to pronounce an introduction of his benefactor as "Ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist".
The tension builds up and soon you come to expect that it would blow up. In the end there is a climax (I will not reveal it in case you don't know the story).
I give it 9 out of 10.