4 stars out of 5
On March 24, 2006, I was face-to-face with director Bennett Miller and was pretty pissed at the guy—but I’ll save that anecdote for another time. For now I’ll say that, personal feelings aside, I’m a big fan of his work. All four of his features range from very good to excellent: the documentary The Cruise, Capote, Moneyball, and now, Foxcatcher.
Clearly, Miller is enamored with nonfiction, and the John du Pont story was ripe to be retold. I had vague recollections of the sordid 1996 news story involving du Pont and Olympic wrestlers, but I think that forgetting most of the details made this an even more satisfying film experience for me.
In addition to a fascinating real-life tale, Foxcatcher also has two other genuine strengths: a gutsy but very compelling choice of pacing, and some absolutely tremendous performances.
You’ve perhaps heard about Steve Carell’s physical and temperamental transformation into John du Pont, and you can certainly believe the hype. Carell is a marvel in this, giving us a du Pont who is weird, creepy, lonely, sad, awkward, damaged, oblivious, predatory. An Oscar for Steve Carell? Perhaps.
Channing Tatum, as Olympic gold-medalist wrestler Mark Schultz, is the opposite of Carell’s du Pont in many ways: vibrant, visceral, physical, sexual. But they share a sadness, a loneliness, a lingering sense of hurt.
Mark Ruffalo—always so good!—is Mark’s also-gold-winning older brother David, and he is everything John and Mark are not: He is “normal” (wife, kids, backyard). He is nurturing. John and Mark both long for these ideals, but also resent them.
Miller’s filmmaking style perfectly matches the story. Many scenes are long and incredibly quiet. Often there’s one character alone in a large room. Loneliness, a constant threat. Hello darkness, my old friend.
And Foxcatcher grapples (sorry) with so much: The never-ending appeal of glory. (There are even some classic sports-film tropes here, with the “big match” approaching.) The entitlement and aloofness of wealth. The ease of manipulating the vulnerable. Family’s ability to support and comfort us, and its equal power to trap and belittle us. Our ongoing desire to just “fit in”—and the pain of those always on the outside. And even when we are accepted, our ongoing need to prove ourselves as individuals.
It all adds up to one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year. Not that I’m necessarily rooting for Bennett Miller….
Sounds like a good one Jack. On the subject of movies, we’re getting IFC channel this weekend free, and I watched a movie last night. One of the commercials for IFC sang “We wish you a merry orgy, we wish you a merry orgy, and a happy new year.” I think that’s what it said, pretty tasteless. Makes my MEAN statements on this puny blog seem irrelevant. The movie, “The Big Lebowski,” was my first time seeing it, watched half of it. Hard to believe I’ve heard that movie title as often as I have the past 15 years. Such a bad movie. Though I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘Theodore Herzl’ in movie dialogue before. Viva Zionista.