Foxcatcher Review
By David Kempler
Foxcatcher Almost Catches It
The Du Pont family is one of those that has been near royalty in America since 1802, when they formed E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, which would go on to become the world's largest chemical company. Along with this faux-royalty status comes the ability to do just about anything one pleases.
Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher", examines the psyche of John Du Pont (Steve Carrell), to be more specific, his interactions with two amateur American wrestling brothers and his mother. Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his brother David (Mark Ruffalo) had both already won gold in the Olympics and are in training again for the next Olympics. Du Pont invites them to his family estate to help them with their training. He possesses no abilities in this profession, but money talks. He contributes a bundle of cash to the people in charge of the Olympic wrestling team and, in exchange, he is given the right to host and train America's best amateur wrestlers.
Du Pont is one odd duck. He has enough money to do just about anything he wants to do, but he is severely damaged psychologically. Initially, the only thing we are sure of is that he speaks very quietly, but eventually Bennett takes us deeper inside the brain of Du Pont. He has accomplished very little in spite of everything that has been at his disposal since being born into one of America's richest families. His mother belittles him and he is driven to show her that he is a very talented man. His attempts are pathetic to watch.
Mark Schultz falls under Du Pont's spell because he is either not particularly bright, similarly damaged, or both. When Mark's brother finally decides to join his brother at the compound, he is troubled by his brother's change in demeanor. Mark has become despondent and non-communicative. We are not entirely sure why, but it's not hard to use your imagination.
"Foxcatcher" has most of the required ingredients of a great film. The real-life story is compelling and bizarre. Bennett directs as well as usual. The writing is up to snuff. Unfortunately, the performance by Carrell is uneven. At times, he shines. At other times, he appears to be doing an impersonation that features low-volume, monotone speech. He's not bad, but I couldn't help but wonder whether someone else might have had a better chance of achieving the desired effect. "Foxcatcher" might be worth catching, but the hunt fails to land its prey.
