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Foxcatcher, Review: Catch it now

Based on true events, Foxcatcher tells the dark story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers. When Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is invited by wealthy heir John Eleuthère du Pont (Steve Carell) to move on to the du Pont estate and help form a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics at his new state-of-the-art training facility, Schultz jumps at the opportunity, hoping to focus on his training and finally step out of the shadow of his revered brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo). Driven by hidden needs, du Pont sees backing Schultz's bid for the Gold medal and the chance to "coach" a world-class wrestling team as an opportunity to gain the elusive respect of his peers and, more importantly, his disapproving mother Jean (Vanessa Redgrave), though she hates wrestling, and is opposed to the whole idea.

Flattered by the attention and entranced by du Pont's majestic world, Mark comes to see his benefactor as a father figure and grows increasingly dependent on him for approval. Though initially supportive, du Pont's mercurial personality reveals a new facet and he begins to lure Mark into unhealthy habits, including drug abuse, that threaten to undermine his training. Soon, du Pont's erratic behaviour and cruel psychological game-play begin to erode the athlete's already shaky self-esteem. Meanwhile, du Pont summons Dave to Foxcatcher. He now becomes fixated on Dave, who exudes the confidence both he and Mark lack, knowing that these are things even his money cannot buy. Fuelled by du Pont's increasing paranoia and alienation from the brothers, the trio is propelled towards a tragedy no one could have foreseen.

The real Du Pont was born in 1938, the youngest of four children. When he was two, his parents divorced. After his older siblings moved out, John was left alone on the vast Foxcatcher estate with his mother, Jean. It was an isolated existence. He was an awkward child who found it difficult to socialise. At one stage, his mother even paid a boy called Hugh Cherry to be friends with him, as is established in the film. Du Pont’s obsession with self-protection and security could occasionally veer into the paranoid. He even bought an armoured vehicle and ordered a machine-gun to be mounted on it, as seen in the film. There was a short-lived marriage to Gale Wenk, an occupational therapist, whom he met in 1982 and married a year later. She left him after three months, when he pulled a pistol on her and accused her of being a Russian spy.

No one will ever fully understand du Pont’s motivation for doing what he did that cold January day in 1996. Du Pont himself never offered an explanation. The millionaire barricaded himself in his 44-room mansion for two days, prompting a stand-off with the police. When he was put on trial in 1997, du Pont pleaded not guilty “by reason of insanity”. One of the defence’s expert psychiatric witnesses diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic. The jury eventually found him guilty but mentally ill and he was sentenced to 13 to 30 years. From prison, he gave the order that the exterior of his family mansion, including all the windows, be painted black. Du Pont died, in his cell, in December 2010, at the age of 72.

Written by E. Max Frye (Something Wild) and Dan Futterman (Capote), Foxcatcher is based on a story put-together by getting three sets of reminiscences, from Mark, Dave’s wife Nancy, and a documentary producer, David Bennett. Some creative liberty was only to be expected. And not everything is included. By and large, both Mark and Nancy are happy with the film. In the last week of December 2014, a number of tweets attributed to Mark said that he was very upset with director Bennett Miller, and strong language was used. It was later discovered that these were in response to some critics’ interpretation that du Pont and he had some physical intimacy. Mark later apologised for the language. Here’s the most relevant tweet, "My story and my life are real. I am a real human being. While I may have tweeted out of anger, I in no way regret standing up for myself, nor do I regret calling out the only other man who has had decision making power concerning my image and legacy these past years. I apologize for the harshness of my language, but I am firm in where I stand. I will gladly go to any lengths to protect and safeguard the integrity and truth of my story, my life, my character and my legacy. If that's not worth fighting over while I'm still alive, I don't know what is."

One would have thought that Mark might have been upset at the negative shades he was shown in, especially when Dave arrived at Foxcatcher, to, what he might have perceived as, “challenge his turf”, and to the sorry situations he let himself drift into, involving drugs, and as a direct consequence, losing out on his wrestling prowess. If he hasn’t been upset by these tracks in the story, then I guess these elements are completely true, and it is rather brave of him to accept the bitter truth.

A lot of the facts came from David “Doc” Bennett, the man du Pont hired to shoot and edit documentaries about him. He gave Miller not only those documentaries, but all the raw footage, and became a consultant on the film, and ended up playing himself. Reveals Miller, “The scene where Mark Ruffalo is being questioned and prodded to describe du Pont as a mentor, the guy asking the questions is the guy in real life who actually asked those questions. That’s the guy who gave us all this footage. But there is footage of du Pont going back to the 1950s, including a Time-Life film called “That Thing At Foxcatcher,” which was absolutely amazing. Somebody picked up on du Pont back then when he was training for the Olympics as a pentathlete. He also appeared on the game show To Tell The Truth, and the family had home movies. It was amazingly well-documented. A lot of the wrestlers shot stuff, too.”

Bennett Miller (feature-length documentary The Cruise, Capote, Moneyball) is all but stuck with a docu-drama label. So long as he can create a drama as riveting as this and can extract performances as flawless as seen in Foxcatcher, it does not matter what genre he works in. This is a powerhouse of a film that will leave you spell-bound. It is not entertaining as in fun-filled or feel-good, quite the contrary, but it is still cinematic dynamite. After seeing the film, you will find it hard to believe that in real-life, actor Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, White House Down, Jupiter Ascending) wishes people had tails so you could read their emotions, likes cake, beer, and bourbon, admits he likes all three a little too much, and enjoys painting and sculpting. Stay focused on the look on his face, which speaks volumes, in the absence of long dialogue.

Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Collateral, Zodiac, Kids Are All Right, Shutter Island) has sincerity oozing out of his eyes and ears and nose. Not once do you doubt that the brothers are not real brothers and not top class wrestlers. But the casting coup has to be Steve Carell. While discussing the role, Carell said to Miller that almost all his roles have been mushy, however du Pont was one that appeared deceptively mushy initially, but developed into non-mushy and dangerous. Miller agreed, and felt it was a good idea to give the comic a chance. “Steve brought an improvisational, extra special quality to the role,” he said. Indeed! The face, the attire, the look, the diction, the gait…if we ever see real footage of du Pont, he better be like Carell.

Steve Carell (51) was born Steve Carello and graduated from Denison University. It was in college where he and some friends started a touring comedy company, and after graduating he continued in the same direction, by taking-up theatre, and joined Chicago's Second City troupe. Some of his most memorable roles include a TV newscaster in Bruce Almighty, a weatherman in Anchorman, a senior correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and recent roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Vanessa Redgrave (77, Julia, Atonement, Blow-Up) is a delight to watch, although she insists that she continues to act only because she has mortgages to pay. That is a win-win situation for film-buffs. And Sienna Miller (Layer Cake, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love, American Sniper), no relation of Bennett, plays the deglamourised mother of two, Nancy. “When the idea of Sienna was first proposed, I didn’t think it made sense,” Miller admits. “I thought… too beautiful and too English. But she put an audition on tape, and without realizing who I was looking at, I was immediately convinced. She really turned me around and opened my eyes to the fact that she’s a very solid and serious actress.” Which she no doubt is! High quality support comes from several smaller players too.

Foxcatcher must be caught at the earliest opportunity.

Rating: ****

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8361stZ8n0w