On November 14th, the film Foxcatcher, was released. In director Bennett Miller’s (Capote, Moneyball) third major feature film, he explores the true crime story of schizophrenic millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) and his attempt at creating a world class United States wrestling program before the 1988 Seoul Olympics. du Pont brought many amateur wrestlers like Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) to his property “Foxcatcher Farm”, only to lead to the murder of Schultz’s brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo).
Reviews have been very positive from the offset. Foxcatcher won the Palme D’Or, the highest prize at the esteemed Cannes Film Festival in France. Both Tatum and Carrell shed their often comedic roles to join a dark and twisted venture. The plot, as haunted as it was, was well developed. Miller was able to encapsulate the depressing story while, at the same time, displaying the lack of humanity that can result from minds collapsing. The story portrays American exceptionalism in a new and creative way, personifying these ideals of greatness in du Pont.
The only issue that viewers have had about the movie is that the character of du Pont was not as developed as thoroughly as he should have. This was by far, Miller’s best feat yet. The complete transformation of Carell was the real surprise of the movie, as he quickly placed himself as an Oscar frontrunner. Carell’s calm demeanor and makeup gives him an unrecognizable personality that got him rave reviews from critics everywhere. Carell received the Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, along with Mark Ruffalo for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
