Director: Bennett Miller
Talent: Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Sienna Miller
Release Date: 9th January 2015
Steve Carell plays John du Pont, a multimillionaire intent on making his Pennsylvania estate, the titular Foxcatcher, the home of the US Olympic wrestling team. When du Pont hires Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) to head up coaching duties, it’s a dream come true for the young wrestler. However, things soon take a turn for the weird in this deceptively low-key sports drama.
The dramatic setting gives the actors a chance to expand their range: Tatum puts in a career-best performance as Mark, the younger of the Schultz brothers, showing a lot of vulnerability. Carrell is delightful and hideous as eccentric multimillionaire John “Golden Eagle” du Pont, a man impetuous and insane in equal measure.
In one sequence John argues with his mother about what to do with his sizable toy train collection. “I’m not interested in trains anymore mother,” he says. “I’m a leader of men.” For John du Pont, one toy collection is replaced by another, these men are his playthings to use as he sees fit. However, men are of course not toy trains and tensions flare up as John struggles with his dream.
The film makes a point of showing us du Pont’s shortcomings on numerous occasions. He lacks the knowledge or ability to train the wrestlers. He is a boy in a man’s world, but his money allows for a terrifying choke-hold over the Schultz brothers. Director Bennett Miller (Moneyball, Capote) is fond of long takes: there’s a sort of comedy going on in the pauses and sounds punctuating the film’s dialogue as we see du Pont and the Schultzes struggle with their circumstances.
Where Foxcatcher ends up is not entirely unexpected: it’s based on a true story after all, but the manner in which the film takes us to its finale is unsettling, unexpected and unmissable.
Words: Luke Maxwell
