Film Review -- Foxcatcher

Directed by Bennett Miller, the film stars Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo. In the late 1980s, Olympic gold medal-winning wrestlers and brothers Mark (Tatum) and Dave (Ruffalo) move to Foxcatcher Farms in Pennsylvania to train in its wrestling facility for the 1988 Seoul Olympics under the tutelage of owner John Du Pont (Carrell), the eccentric heir to the Du Pont family fortune. What starts out as a partnership between two athletes hoping to achieve success as a means to provide a stable future for themselves and their families and a wrestling enthusiast with resources to invest in it soon turns dangerous as Du Pont's mental state deteriorates, culminating in a tragic outcome. The first praiseworthy element of the film is the acting. The three leads all give excellent performances, but Steve Carrell, who sheds his comedic roots to completely transform into the mysterious, deranged Du Pont, is particularly outstanding, and will hopefully receive recognition for it come awards season. The script and direction were also strong, and the story itself is fascinating. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel underwhelmed by Foxcatcher. With such an exciting story to work with, I hoped that the film would have had more energy, more suspense, and a more gripping climax (the end was almost anti-climatic). The film, therefore, didn't hold my attention the way I thought it would. It's hard to put into words exactly what didn't work with Foxcatcher, because it wasn't a specific factor. For me, it had more to do with the style and tone chosen for the film, and the result was a story that had all the potential to be extremely tense and suspenseful but instead was quite subdued. It's still a good film, however, and is worth a watch.

Should you see it: Yes

Grade: B