Foxcatcher
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, Annapurna Pictures, and Likely Story
If a film can have a specific aura, or tone, this film’s is “creepy”. It is settled into its framework, like it a chill can settle into your bones, and the feeling of uneasiness follows you throughout the story of world class wrestler Mark Schultz’s relationship with the world’s richest man, John du Pont. This is a film for actors, and the cast does not disappoint, as their characters fill the screen from top to bottom. While this is not a bigger than life production, it tells a story that is indescribably unique, and couldn’t have been handled in better hands.
Bennett Miller has had moody, irreverent projects in the past, including “Capote” and “Moneyball”. While “Foxcatcher” doesn’t delve into any new territory, it does capture a relationship that is beyond strange. Miller directs his people in incomparable ways, motivating them to unleash their inner demons onscreen.
The main reason many people will see this film is for the performance by Steve Carrell, as John du Pont. From the makeup, to the dentures, Carrell has been physically transformed into the villainous cretin that was John du Pont. Watching old videos of the infamous du Pont shows that Carrell’s portrayal is not only spot on but eerily mirroring of the enigmatic billionaire. Du Pont is painted as a man who is perpetually jealous of all those around him, but especially his mother. Their relationship is shown to be unstable and complicated. His mother, who shows horses in competition, thinks that her son’s endeavors, and financing of an Olympic wrestling team, can’t be compared to her respectable sport. Nothing he does makes his mother happy, and when she inevitably dies of old age, he finds that it’s an event he wants to celebrate. Untethered from her leash, he finds himself free to hold dominion over those who rely on his money and finesse.
This is just as much a story about Mark and David Schultz. Du Pont creates himself in the image of a father-figure for Mark (Tatum) who has always relied on his older brother for support and guidance. Du Pont wants to be that for Mark, but not for the bond, but for the prestige of having an Olympic wrestling team that wins its competitions. When that doesn’t happen, mostly because du Pont gets Mark addicted to cocaine, du Pont drops his former golden boy and brings Mark’s brother into his world. This adds another complex layer to the portrait that Carrell seamlessly creates with his performance.
Though this film does an obscenely good job of creating tension and suspense, it drags too long. Miller takes his time with moments, letting long takes do a lot of work, storytelling wise. Still, there are too many long moments, too many pauses, too many sentiments that don’t need to take up screen time. By the very end of the film the tension has almost dissipated, because we’re waiting around for the climax to finally occur.
There aren’t many biopics that take such risks and let actors become the people they are portraying. For all its culpabilities, “Foxcatcher” is riveting, creepy, and never gratuitous, making its five nominations that much more interesting and needed.
