Review of Foxcatcher (2014) by Orlando O — 10 Mar 2015

Foxcatcher has outstanding performances by Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. Though, Bennett Miller's film is slow and does not convey much on John du Pont but only the brief moments to show his characterization. The story follows John du Pont (Steve Carrell) a philanthropist millionaire and a wrestling enthusiast that hires Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo) on recruiting and training wrestlers. The direction is slow and the movie does feel overly long, like 15 minutes could have been cut without affecting the story or characters.

The performances were great; Steve Carrell did a good job while the make up work done on his face look obvious and mediocre. I dislike when an actors performance is highlighted just cause their physical appearance is outdone by make up work. Steve portrayal of John du Pont is impressive excluding the make up work. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo were also good with their portrayals. Vanessa Redgrave would have been good but her role was brief as she played Jean du Pont, Johns mother who always belittled John by saying wrestling is a "low sport." The behavior and other factors also had an impact with John psychologically.

Bennett Miller's direction had a visual tone on the movie; it was difficult to grasp that feel when it was slow moving. The performances were likable; it just was boring with a dull direction.