Friday, January 23, 2015

Foxcatcher

I have been having a lot of fun viewing the Best Picture nominees so I decided to expand into the Best Actor category.  The only nominee I hadn't yet seen was Steve Carell (read my commentaries on Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Michael Keaton, and Bradley Cooper) so I went to Foxcatcher last night.  Wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is an Olympic gold medalist trying to train for the next Olympics and step out from under the shadow of his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), also a gold medalist and a popular coach.  Mark is so destitute that he speaks at elementary schools for a pittance and eats Ramen noodles.  When eccentric millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) invites Mark to train with other wrestlers at the world class facility he built on his property, Foxcatcher Farm, he jumps at the chance.  Mark soon discovers that du Pont wants the reflected glory of "training" a world class athlete in order to win the approval his mother (Vanessa Redgrave) who is an accomplished equestrienne and, moreover, that most of the wrestlers are mere sycophants who will do anything to keep the checks coming.  Mark is further dismayed when du Pont invites Dave to coach Team Foxcatcher.  Relationships deteriorate, ultimately ending in tragedy.  All three main actors give stellar performances, particularly Carell, who is literally and figuratively unrecognizable in this against-type role.  However, I didn't especially like this film.  There is not a lot of dialogue, even when the characters are talking to each other, so it is difficult to discern the motivation for any of the events taking place.  I also found the final confrontation to be incredibly abrupt with almost no resolution.  The movie is based on a true story so I knew the ultimate outcome before watching it and, therefore, spent the whole time waiting for a big emotional reckoning which never came.  Again, all three actors are, admittedly, very good but I don't think I would recommend this movie just for the performances.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...