Foxcatcher 2014
I had heard good things about Steve Carell’s performance in Foxcatcher and that it was about wrestling. It was good not knowing much else about this true story, though I am sure a lot of people may remember parts of it. I got the movie at the dollar store based on the good reviews, plus I needed five Sony titles to get a free movie (also got 22 Jump Street and Sex Tape, so I wasn’t that picky). So the good thing was I didn’t have much to lose.
This is a very slow and kind of dark movie that focuses on an Olympic wrestler and a rich guy in the du Pont family who recruits him for his training center on the family estate, called Foxcatcher Farm. The movie is mostly about these odd looking and peculiar characters but the music and direction give it a foreboding heaviness. There is not really any lightness to the whole movie. I watched it over a few days and had to resist the temptation to look up the real story and I am glad I waited for the movie to unfold.
The acting is subdued and kind of caricatured, especially Mark Ruffalo’s mannerisms as a wrestler and Carell plays his millionaire as someone extremely awkward with few people skills but a strong vision. Despite the slow pace it is hard not to be interested in a top level athlete (Channing Tatum) and want him to do well. There is also a family angle as he struggles under the shadow of his more personable brother (Ruffalo). And just as interesting for a look at the life of the rich and famous du Ponts, an American dynasty.
The movie is effective, more about these characters with a somewhat distant look at wrestling training and hardly any of the big matches. After watching the movie it is worth reading up on the real story. The timeline in the movie isn’t really correct. And the way the characters are played is maybe more of a creative choice than real life. In the end, while this is a good movie, it is a little slow and not all that enjoyable, so I have a hard time giving it more than a B+.
Written: 22 Sep 2018
Owned on: Digital