Director Bennett
Miller often takes years in-between his film projects. It took him six years to
make Moneyball after winning Best
Director at the Academy Awards for Capote
in 2005, and despite there being a shorter gap prior to making Foxcatcher, Miller seems to have applied
the same careful consideration in choosing the material. In many ways a striking
comparison film to In Cold Blood, the
1967 film adaptation of the Truman Capote true-crime novel at the center of
Miller’s film. It is a film about unimaginable, unexpected and mostly
unexplained acts of violence in America
Jonah Hill
received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Moneyball, a surprisingly dramatic role for the regular player Judd
Apatow’s band of man-children. How coincidental that the star of Apatow’s debut
feature (following the massive success of “The Office”) also received an Oscar
nomination for his first truly dramatic turn, along with a dedicated
performance from Jonah Hill’s 21 Jump Street
The actual
screenplay by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman is kept rather simplified, implying
far more than is actually said. The plot is based on the true events
surrounding an eccentric multi-millionaire’s foray into the world of Olympic
wrestling. Mark Schultz (Tatum) is a champion wrestler, but can’t seem to find
a way out from under his brother’s shadow. David Schultz (Ruffalo) is also a
champion wrestler, but also has a family and his own business, which is the gym
that Mark trains at. When summoned by the odd John du Pont to live and train on
the grounds of his absurdly large estate, Mark sees the opportunity to forge
his own path.
This is where
the film gets a bit hazy with details, and I will refrain from assumption, both
because of the controversy these sequences caused for one of the survivors of
the real story and because the real significance is the feelings of dread and
subtle foreshadowing done by these ambiguous moments. By the time that David joins
Mark to train, there seems to have been some emotional trauma already done.
Even with wrestling at the center of the storyline, this is less a film about
sports than even Moneyball was.
At 134-minutes, Foxcatcher may feel slow for some
filmgoers. It is a film that builds tension at a deliberate pace, however
untraditional it may be with the typical Hollywood
fare. This also allows for the performers to truly flourish in these roles,
making the three leads a defining reason to watch the film. The DVD special
features include a handful of deleted scenes, as well as a featurette about the
real story behind Foxcatcher.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8.5/10
Historical
Significance: 8.5/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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