Foxcatcher

Movie Information

The Story: The story of millionaire John du Pont and his ultimately murderous relationship with Olympic gold medalists Mark and Dave Schultz. The Lowdown: A well-crafted, but slowly-paced prestige picture that manages to be fascinating and compelling, if never quite great.
Score:

Genre: Fact-Based Drama
Director: Bennett Miller (Moneyball)
Starring: Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Sienna Miller, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Michael Happ
Rated: R

foxcather

 

Like his two other narrative features — Capote (2005) and Moneyball (2011) — Bennett Miller’s  Foxcatcher is a distanced, uninviting work. It’s a well-crafted prestige picture that oozes with “importance” from the first frame. (Hey, here’s a movie that brings in a great actress, Vanessa Redgrave, for what amounts to a glorified cameo.) However, this chilly film almost justifies its obvious sense of self-worth. It may be a case of director and material being perfectly matched. Miller’s often ponderous detachment gives the film the kind of gravitas — real or illusory — that keeps it from seeming to be the kind of tabloid trash its story basically is. I mean, at bottom, this is a true crime story about a filthy rich man preying on the relatively innocent while becoming progressively detached from any kind of reality until an inevitable tragedy occurs. It’s “ripped from the headlines” stuff — except the headlines are from 1996, and it’s handled by Miller and screenwriters E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman as a kind of gothic American tragedy with an eye on class structure.

 

foxcatcher

 

There’s a trade-off in all this. Sure, it’s not trashy, but in tamping down that element, the film just isn’t very exciting. However, it is strangely fascinating. It took a story in which I admit I had little interest and held my attention for over two hours. That’s something of an accomplishment right there. It may have helped that I only knew the basics of the story — so basic, in fact, that I didn’t know who was going to be murdered. This — along with having first seen the film in a theater — probably contributed to its one shock effect being as startling and effective as something out of a horror movie.

 

foxcatchervanessa

 

The story concerns John du Pont (Steve Carell all but unrecognizable in a heavy, unattractive and slightly distracting makeup), heir to the du Pont chemical fortune becoming fixated on creating a “Team Foxcatcher” (Foxcatcher being the name of his estate) Olympic wrestling team. To this end, he recruits former Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) to help him. Mark is an easy target. He’s down on his luck — accepting a $20 speaking gig (that was actually meant for his brother) at an elementary school and barely making ends meet. Moreover, he has no real personality, social skills or charm and lives in the shadow of his charismatic — also gold medalist — brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo). The offer to come to Foxcatcher is irresistible.

 

FOXCATCHER

 

Mark is like some kind of weird variation on the poor heroine of a gothic novel — brought into a creepy, but seductive world of untold privilege and the blandishments of his wealthy host. It seems  — though the idea is left dangling — that du Pont is just as fixated on Mark as he is on Team Foxcatcher. He fills the younger man’s head with both flattery and a lot of empty patriotic posturing. Though wary of du Pont, Mark is also star-struck — or maybe money-struck. But things don’t play out the way he and du Pont expect, and soon the millionaire has also recruited Dave, changing the dynamic and sending things into a spiral that mirrors du Pont’s descent into madness. The film barely stops short of labeling du Pont’s insanity an outgrowth of affluenza, but questions of class privilege pervade the film to such an extent that it’s inescapable.

 

foxcatcher2

 

The film takes some liberties to make its points. Foxcatcher Farms was only renamed that by du Pont following his mother’s death, but that doesn’t prevent the film from making it Foxcatcher as early as the faux-home movie footage of a foxhunt at the beginning of the film. That’s not just keeping things simple, it’s also to make the point that the brothers are nothing more to du Pont than the fox in the hunt. That’s not an unreasonable embellishment in the context of the movie, which more or less sticks to the essence of the case. The overall results — while never quite becoming the significant film Foxcatcher wants to be — are compelling enough to make for a movie well worth your while. Rated R for some drug use and a scene of violence.

 

SHARE
About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

16 thoughts on “Foxcatcher

  1. T.rex

    I was very excited by these trailers but once I saw who the director is I got a little nervous. Capote and Moneyball were so boring. I’m sure I will see it though.

  2. Xanadon't

    This was easily my favorite of Miller’s three films but remains something I’d be hesitant to revisit. Steve Carell’s restrained yet slightly cartoonish performance only held up for so long with me. But Ruffalo was his reliably good self and I dare say Tatum is becoming a legitimate screen presence.

    This was an unnerving watch and it deserves credit for achieving that effect.

    • Ken Hanke

      Only held up for so long? Only held up for so long??? But but but…he had a fake nose! And as you — and the Academy — know that’s real acting.

      Actually, I think we’re pretty much on the same page with this one.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.