It may be set in the macho world of Olympic wrestling, but the docudrama Foxcatcher is really a relationship movie. The relationship triangle is between Olympic gold medal winning brothers Mark and Dave Schultz and the billionaire wrestling enthusiast John E. du Pont. Mark is uncomplicated and naive and seduced by du Pont’s offer to get him out of his older, more worldly, brother’s shadow. But du Pont turns out to be one sick puppy, with tragic results.
And the character of John E. du Pont, as brilliantly revealed by Steve Carell, is what makes this story so fascinating. He’s a zillionaire who is passionate about a relatively low profile Olympic sport and wants to sponsor US wrestlers – that’s all within the normal band of rich guy behavior. But he also fancies himself a coach, a Vince Lombardi-like Leader of Men, and his wealth enables him to act out his pathetic fantasies. It’s pretty clear that he’s driven by the worst mommie issues since Norman Bates in Psycho. (Vanessa Redgrave, in a brilliantly understated performance, plays his perpetually disapproving mother.)
Carell wear a prosthetic nose to resemble the real du Pont (just perform a Google image search for “John E du Pont” to see the real thing). But Carell knocks this role out of the park with his eyes – cluelessly confident, then raging when denied what he wants, then searching for a glimmer of maternal approval. Carell deserves – and I’m sure will secure – a Best Actor Oscar nomination. The guy can do more than comedy, that’s for sure.
All three of the main actors are getting Oscar buzz. Mark Ruffalo, is exceptional as Dave Schultz. Two of his scenes are extraordinary. In one, he is listening to Mark’s big plans and we can tell he thinks it’s too good to be true, but he doesn’t want to rain on his brother’s parade. In the other, he is being prompted to say something that disgusts him in du Pont’s vanity documentary. The story is centered on Channing Tatum as Mark Schultz. I generally like Tatum, and he’s OK here, but I couldn’t get past his device of jutting out Mark’s chin to capture the dumb jock look.
Foxcatcher is directed by Bennett Miller, whose two other films were Capote and Moneyball. He lets us understand Mark Schultz by watching him in his daily routine. He lets us understand John E. du Pont by contrasting his empty, blathering coachspeak with his posing as someone accomplished in his own right. Bennett keeps the camera right on his characters and stays out of the way, especially with his effectively spare soundtrack. It all works very well.
