|
|
Bennett Miller's newest biopic, Foxcatcher, creates quite a disturbing picture for one of America's wealthiest and most powerful families. The film is based on the autobiography of Olympic Wrestling Champion Mark Schultz where he details his training leading up to the 1988 Olympics.
John Du Pont decides he wants to coach the men's Olympic Wrestling team. What are his qualifications you are asking yourself in the meantime? None. He has no qualifications. He simply is a rich schizophrenic man who lives at home with his mother and has a very strange affection toward men's wrestling and especially Mark Schultz. The film provides a dark tone and setting for the entirety of the film offering no alternative. The story is dark and Miller makes sure you know that.
The film is based on real events so it is not a spoiler to tell you that Du Pont's schizophrenia leads to a murder resulting him in jail where he resided until his death in 2010. His obsession with Mark and his brother Dave Schultz, another Olympic gold medalist, becomes the center of the plot in this spine tingling tale.
Steve Carell is going to get an Oscar nomination for this. He has finally proved to audiences that he can undertake and perfect dramatic acting. There is not one specific scene in the film that showcases this talent rather his performance as a whole. He is John Du Pont. They plaster on him a fake nose, make him look much older, and voilà you have Steve Carell looking like Du Pont. Next, he masterfully had to act like Du Pont. His struggle to prove to his mother he can do something and his sickening obsession with Mark and Dave give us that eerie feeling he is up to no good. Steve Carell freaked me out in this film. If it were up to me, I would absolutely give him a nomination and probably the Oscar.
Channing Tatum gives the biggest and best breakthrough performance I have ever seen. This role is not like any others for Tatum. He plays Mark Schultz, the younger of the two brothers. Tatum perfects Schultz's nervous habits allowing the audience to see the insecurity in Schultz's mind. He is a loner, seemingly sexually confused, and very much insecure about his own wrestling ability despite being an Olympic Champion. Channing Tatum is magnificent. I pray he receives an Oscar nomination as well.
It is so refreshing to see actors who have never really branched out before finally show us what they got. Tatum branched out with Foxcatcher and he showed us he has what it takes to be a serious actor and potential Oscar nominee in the future.
Director Bennett Miller won the Best Director prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and I must confess I admire his directing so much. Foxcatcher is a very well made film and is created quite tastefully. There are several scenes that allude to Du Pont's homosexuality with his complete infatuation with Mark towards the beginning. It even implies Mark allowed this to evolve into something. Whatever it is, Miller does an excellent job conveying the creepiness of it all. His previous filmography includes Capote (2005) and Moneyball (2011). Obviously Miller enjoys creating stories centered on real people and events.
This film is not lighthearted and happy. It is dark and it is mysterious. Miller keeps us in a sort of shrouded mist throughout the film. It is very ambiguous at times but this ambiguity does not inhibit the film at all. This was one of the best films I saw at Cannes this year and I believe it's going to rack up a lot of Oscar nominations this awards season.
score 7/10
mikemm16 3 November 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3116657/ |
|
22-11-2019 07:03:24
