DOUBLEFEATUREPREACHERS
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact

Foxcatcher - B-

8/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Quick Hit: Intense film with captivating performances, but the blips in time cause some loss in storyline.
Picture
Some movies are more visceral for the audience than others, and Foxcatcher is definitely that. It is the story of two wrestlers, Dave and Mark Schultz, both of them Olympic Champions. It is also the story of an odd, odd man named John du Pont. There is so much that surrounded these characters in the news, that, depending on your age, you may recognize the names. I won’t go into too much about what happened, because it will ruin the movie. There are two ways to write about the movie, and I’m choosing one of them: to not reveal the ending (at least until my spoiler section).

The movie opens to find Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) as a sad, shell of a man (there is an argument to saying he doesn’t achieve anything higher than this). He works out with his talented brother Dave (a big, balding Mark Ruffalo) at his brother’s gym, does speaking gigs for twenty bucks a pop, and eats Ramen. That is, before his life is changed forever by the addition of billionaire philanthropist John du Pont (Steve Carrell). Du Pont says that he wants to help Mark succeed, for the good of the country.

Carrell’s performance as du Pont was much lauded after this film (he got an Oscar nomination), and I went back and forth between agreeing and not. He is no doubt playing someone that is very off-character for him, and since this role he seems to continue to branch out more and more (see
Picture
The Big Short). However, despite the make-up (which at times is more distracting than effective), the real creep-out is the pseudo-relationship that begins to play out between he and Mark. Part father-son, part friendship, and part sexual fantasy, you cannot put your finger on what is going on. It’s very obvious that du Pont is used to receiving what he wants in life – his inability to understand that Dave Schultz did not want to join “Team Foxcatcher” is indicative enough of that (though eventually he gets Dave to join – rich folks usually do). However, where he really starts to lose me is around the time he probably begins to move into madness himself.

The acting performances are all pretty good. Carrell I already touched on, and Ruffalo is almost hard to comment on – he’s so good (as usual) that you almost forget him for long stretches. His most powerful scene is definitely the scene where he is asked to call du Pont his mentor. Tatum is given the reigns to the movie, and he doesn’t completely falter – his intensity is what lends some scenes to be the best in the movie. In fact, the scene where he head-butts a mirror was completely unscripted, and caused Tatum to actually get hurt.
Picture
The entire film is shot in lots of bleak tones. Despite the fact that years pass (lots of years – like 10) between the beginning of the film and the end, there always seems to be only one weather – dark, on the edge of snowing, bleak weather. Director Bennett Miller (Moneyball) tends to maintain this type of atmosphere, and he continues to do so by impregnating long pauses into the delivery of different lines. This has the benefit of making the whole film seem like it is a precursor, despite the fact there are some very intense scenes (like the one where Mark pigs out and then subsequently has to lose a ton of weight).

Spoilers for the end to follow
​
*************************************************spoiler****************************************************
At the end of the film, du Pont seems to lose it completely, and goes and shoots Dave Schultz. This is incredibly jarring, because there is an immense amount of time that goes missing here: almost seven years. In the film, there is no indication of this, and it seems to be saying that du Pont has lost it because Dave removed his brother Mark from du Pont’s clutches. The whole
Picture
scene is surreal, but it is ultimately effective, because the confusion and terror is shocking.

Overall, Foxcatcher was a movie that I enjoyed quite a bit, but I would have loved it with some small changes. So, I’m going to give Foxcatcher a “B-“.

For more on this film, check out IMDB. ​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    David

    ​"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" 
                      -Jack Torrance                         (Shining)

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Animated
    Based On A True Story
    Comedy
    Crime
    Drama
    Family
    Fantasy
    Horror/Thriller
    Musical
    Mystery
    Romance
    Science Fiction
    Superhero
    Western

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact