Foxcatcher is as chilling as true crime cinema can get. The vice-grip direction from the extremely erudite filmmaker Bennett Miller in tandem with a supremely cogent screenplay fashioned with scalpel-sharp dialogue from Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye creates a film that is unshakeable and grim. Funereal in tone and sad to the core, Foxcatcher is a richly textured masterpiece of filmmaking and storytelling, daring to explore America at its worst, never cheapening anything during its all-consuming, slow-burn runtime. This film will be massively off-putting for many people – a true bitter pill – but for those who have cinema running through their veins, this is the equivalent of a five course meal at a Michelin rated restaurant. With the clear and clean screenplay at his disposal, Miller captures the dark, rotted soul of the corrupted male psyche, utilizing a cold and detached directorial aesthetic that fully absorbs the audience. Greig Fraser’s quiet, measured, and totally unassuming cinematography unfolds in a deliberately patient fashion, and when paired with the creepy and subtle musical score by Rob Simonsen, this becomes a movie that uses its sly visual and sonic strengths to amplify the exactitude of its words.
Every time I watch the film I’m blown away by its power and ability to unnerve, as Fraser and Miller use empty visual space to convey the alienation of everyone in the narrative. The performances are astounding with the big-three trio of Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, and Mark Ruffalo providing transformative work, anchoring this exceedingly gripping tale of obsession, paranoia, ritualistic sport behavior, and blunt, psychological turmoil. Carrell imbues self-professed “patriot” John Dupont (ex-heir to the Dupont family fortune who hosted the 1988 wrestling team at his estate) with a staggering false sense of importance and pride; his consistent uttering that he’s “helping America” is one of the creepiest elements to the character of Dupont, and something that Carell does so well in the film. The fact that when you see Carell in this film and you never once think of Michael Scott from The Office – that’s a testament to how deep Carell went in his portrayal; the rest of his work as an actor will be judged against his menacing turn in Foxcatcher. He’s a sociopath to the extreme, bordering on outright psychopath. Yet, nobody calls him on it, none of his handlers or business managers or associates. Had they raised the obvious concerns than many clearly felt, they wouldn’t have gotten paid, but a life might not have been lost.
That’s one of the many key themes of Foxcatcher – how much is a person’s life worth? It’s a crime that Tatum wasn’t talked-up for Best Actor because, for me, he was Carrel’s equal in every way. Using his already physically intimidating body to maximum effect as 1984 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Mark Schultz, his jaw jutted out with a shuffle of a walk, Tatum forces the viewer to confront this socially awkward character head on. He’s a man in the shadow of his brother, the gold medal winning wrestler Dave Schultz, having never grown up with the love of a father, always looking for something – anything – to latch onto. Ruffalo plays Dave Schultz as a good and decent family man, and as always, is astonishingly natural, never hitting a false note, always nailing the little details just as much as the big scenes.
As the film progresses, you watch as he begins to possibly understand the madness that he’s allowed himself to become a part of. The scene with Ruffalo being coached by the documentary filmmaker to say that he loved Du Pont and that Du Point was his mentor has got to be one of the more upsetting movie moments of the year. As Foxcatcher builds towards its inevitable conclusion, one is left with the impression that Miller wants us to examine the very fibers of what it means to be a “winner” and an American society obsessed and consumed with “winning,” and how people of high-net worth and little actual talent delude themselves into thinking that they are somehow entitled to greatness, without having to earn it. This is a phenomenally layered piece of work that cuts to the bone.
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