Foxcatcher is a rare film that captures different human identities, and shows you how much people can change and grow apart with their objectives in life. Foxcatcher is the true story about Olympic wrestlers Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and Donald Schultz (Mark Ruffalo), joining Team Foxcatcher, sponsored by multimillionaire John E. Dupont (Steve Carell) to train for the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul.
The film starts off showing Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) getting a phone call to meet John E. du Pont (Steve Carell). After accepting Mr. du Pont’s request, Mark Schultz meets Mr. du Pont at his estate to talk about wrestling, his gold medal, and joining Team Foxcatcher. After meeting Mr. du Pont, Mark Schultz tries to convince his brother, Donald (Mark Ruffalo) to join him at Team Foxcatcher. Donald shoots down the idea of joining Foxcatcher, because of his wife and two kids that are comfortable where they are. After unsuccessfully convincing his brother to move, Mark Schultz moves in at the du Pont estate–to start training for the upcoming World Championships in wrestling. All goes well for a little while, but Mr. du Pont grows tired of Mark, and tells Mark that he needs Donald’s services, no matter what the cost may be.
Soon after, Donald Schultz shows up on the du Pont estate with his family in tow. In the midst of training at Team Foxcatcher, James du Pont is having a conversation with his mother, Jean du Pont (Vanessa Redgrave) about wrestling and in this particular scene, you can see his mother’s disapproval with him and wrestling. In another scene, John du Pont’s mother shows up to wrestling practice at Team Foxcatcher, and John du Pont quickly gathers the wrestlers around him to impress his mother with his knowledge of wrestling. His mother quickly becomes bored, and leaves the gym, leaving John du Pont in an obvious state of embarrassment. As the film moves along, you can sense the jealously that Mark has towards his brother, Donald. Being the more knowledgeable and technical wrestler, Donald feels that his brother is slipping out of control, and comes to aid–in assuring him that he loves him and wants nothing but the best for him. Towards the end of the film, it gets pretty grim with different situations that are going on, and you can really feel the emotions that each character is going through at the moment. While this film is depressing at times, it shows you what commitment, desire, and greed will do to someone. This story does not have a happy ending, but it deserves the attention of people, and to be educated not only in the sport of wrestling, but in human emotion as well. Everyone in this film did a sensational job, and as award season is just around the corner, expect this cast and director to get recognized by the academy. Do yourself a favor, and put this film at the top of your movie going list.
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Foxcatcher
Release Date: January 16, 2015
Director: Bennett Miller
With: Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell
Running Time: 134 min
MPAA rating: R
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