The Tedious Process of Foxcatching

Rating: 6/10 (5 January 2015)

In Foxcatcher Channing Tatum plays real life Olympic gold medal winning wrestler, Mark Schultz. In the early 80's, Mark is hired by Billionaire John Du Ponte (Steve Carrell) to train him and a team of Olympic hopefuls for the upcoming summer games. John's ulterior motive is to hire on Mark to eventually convince his brother David Schultz (Mark Ruffalo), a better wrestler, to join their wresting organization and coach. Mark is lured in to the eccentric world of money, drugs once under John's wing. After John is able to buy David into joining the team; Mark then begins to fall apart and the real life events of this odd bit of history play out for our viewing horror. I think I was either too young or just not interested enough in news a young kid to remember this story. Of course a lot of the story was amped up for the sake of a good narrative but the major events are true. I will not spoil the ending for others of you who do not remember the outcome. A lot of time is spent in this film with tedious character development. My hat is off to Channing Tatum for branching out on more challenging roles, this is a much deeper departure from Magic Mike 2. Although he is still a big frat guy; he just plays a bigger, dumber frat guy with a prosthetic nose and cauliflower ear. There is one big climactic scene toward the end where he shows some promise. I love how filmmakers always seem to visually represent a cocaine addiction spiraling out of control with a douchey haircut. I wonder how that creative process goes. "Okay, cocaine addiction is spiraling out of control at this point, besides dark circles under the eyes how can we get our point across?" "Douchey, haircut?" "Yes, yes spike the hair and frost the tips, DONE!" Steve Carrell's performance is very complex and should gain Oscar recognition. He has obviously done some working on nailing the John du Ponte look and mannerisms. Although from the footage I have seen of the real John du Ponte , Carrell is playing him a little more ridged than the actual person; kind of Frankenstein-esq. Perhaps as a means of really selling the sinister nature of the character. Sienna Miller plays David's wife Nancy. This is the second Bio-pic this year for Sienna who played Chris Kyle's wife Taya in American Sniper (2014). The overall message of this film is that we all are seeking someone's approval in life, be it a mother, father, brother, friend or employer. This movie is a very slow burn and requires some patience. If you were aware of the story, then this will be a very interesting watch. Even after seeing the film having not known, it's interesting to go back and see the actual people and real life story. Aside from seeing Steve Carrell outside of his comfort zone and pushing hard on a new dramatic character (that's what she said), this movie offers little until the end in the strait entertainment department. Artfully done, just not one you need to see more than once.