Don't expect a sports movie

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2015)

When I heard they were making a movie about the murder of David Schultz by John E du Pont, I was really excited to see it. Usually when they make films about true crime they tend to jazz it up a bit for cinematic purposes. With Foxcatcher, it's like they deliberately made it more boring.
The film starts with Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), a down on his luck wrestler who lives in the shadow of his older brother David (Mark Ruffalo ). He receives an invitation from eccentric gazillionaire and wrestling aficionado John E du Pont (Steve Carrel with a fake nose). Du Pont sponsors Mark, introduces him to cocaine and acts as a weird "father figure" to him. All the while, he battles his mommy issues. After a while, David comes to the du Pont estate and Mark is on his way out. Oh, yeah and then John du Pont shoots David and Mark takes up cage fighting. Thrilling stuff.
Normally, I don't have issues with slow paced character studies. But this film moves at the pace of a sloth on ambien. The whole thing is filled with random shots where nothing happens and awkward pauses. The characters are not interesting enough to get into. OK we get it, du Pont is rich and creepy, Mark hit his head on the mat one too many times and David is an upstanding family man. The real life John E du Pont was a certifiable loon yet the filmmakers choose to downplay the crazy. The film is incredibly dry with not one bit of humor and takes itself so seriously. It almost comes off as pretentious.
However, there are positives. Carrell and Ruffalo are great in their roles and well, at least Tatum looks like a wrestler. The film is beautifully shot, especially the outdoor scenes. The wrestling looks like wrestling more or less. If you want to see Channing Tatum in a singlet, here is your chance. Don't watch this if you are expecting a sports or true crime movie. However, if you are a huge wrestling fan or just like to watch two dudes stare awkwardly at each other, this film may be right up your alley.