Review of Foxcatcher (2014) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This is a sports related drama with biographical elements, containing themes such as training/sports coaching, domination, the Olympics and egomania. I have to say, it felt less a sports film than a character driven drama, generally. I found it to be quite an engrossing film, with some interesting main characters - those depicted all have their own elements, issues and unique personalities. The plot is somewhat slow but it didn't outright bore me out - instead, I found myself quite curious to see what Mr. Du Pont was going to do next, during the build up to the Olympics. There is a definite sense of mystery, of intrigue, surrounding him, or so I felt anyway.

I found it a somewhat sad watch in parts, with Mr. Du Pont clearly in a somewhat deluded way - very idealistic for one thing. It seemed like perhaps he was only convincing himself of some of what he said, as others close to him seem at times unsure and reluctant in terms of how to behave in his presence.

Music wise, there are some sombre pieces played during certain scenes, featuring slowly played piano keys and the like. It implies Mr Du Pont's undoubted fragility. I thought it helped add atmosphere to the film during said key scenes and as such was well chosen.

Cast wise, John Du Pont is played by Steve Carell, who must have gone through a fair amount of makeup to resemble John's appearance, as a somewhat hardened, beaten down and weary older guy. John is primarily depicted as quite eccentric, random and impulsive. However, I also found it surprising that Mark Schultz (played by Channing Tatum) seemed so reticent, which he does - he seems very unsure about things, the situation he has been landed in and he appears to be somewhat of a philosophical sorts. I suppose he is also relatively self assured, as you'd expect a professional wrestler to be. Other cast members include Mark Ruffalo, as Mark's brother, David, Sienna Miller as Nancy Schultz and Vanessa Redgrave as John's mother, Jean Du Pont. His mother appears quite frail but sounds slightly more domineering.

Content wise, the film contains partial nudity due to the lack of clothing on wrestlers, drug references and one or two scenes of drugs being taken plus mild to moderate violence - mostly in the form of gunfire/gunshots and of course there are scenes of wrestling matches shown, which inevitably contains man to man combat/violence of a sorts. There is little in the way of very strong language. Generally, the film has a somewhat dark tone to it, with it covering some gritty themes and thus it may perhaps upset some people, probably mainly due to the actions of one of the main characters. Having said that, it certainly isn't especially graphic or intensely frightening as such, in the way that slasher style horror films can be, as although there are moments where blood is visible on screen, there isn't much in the way of gore at all. That aside, the film does come with a 15 rating due to the mature themes, drug references and other content I mentioned.

Criticisms wise, there's little I can think to say, other than that it is a relatively bleak watch, in terms of the themes and how the plot pans out (I won't elaborate so as not to hopefully spoil the film for anyone not aware of the story). The relatively slow-ish plot pace may well not suit all but otherwise there's little to criticise.