Foxcatcher (2014)

“Coach is the father. Coach is a mentor. Coach has great power on athlete’s life. ” – John Du Pont

Number of Times Seen – 1 (29 Dec 2014)

Brief Synopsis – The true story of how Olympic Wrestling brothers Mark and Dave Schultz got involved with millionaire John De Pont in their quest to win again in the 1988 Olympics

My Take on it – Who needs another sports hero biopic?

Truth is, we do.

This movie takes the sports biopic to a new level and takes us into deep dark places that we never would have ventured to on our own.

I never had heard of the events of this movie beforehand and it was both enthralling and disturbing to watch it.

This is the kind of movie one can enjoy watching, but it doesn’t invite a rewatch so soon because of how disturbing it can get.

Steve Carell is amazing here and now I can understand why he has been in the Best Actor Oscar discussion for quite some time.  I had to keep reminded myself that it was him because he gets so into character that he loses himself.

That essentially is what we look for in great performances; to see the character and forget who is portraying him.

Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum are also both amazing here and of the 3 main actors, Tatum is the only one I would have thought could manage to portray a wrestler properly, but Ruffalo and Carell do wonderful jobs of convincing us that they too fit the “build” of a pro wrestler.

If you don’t know anything about the story before you see this, I urge you to NOT read about it and let the story grow around you without any preconceived thoughts.

Bottom Line – A great sports biopic that is also disturbing to watch, but invites us deep inside a very complex and interesting true story.  Not gonna be on my rewatch list so soon despite it being such a great story. Carell really loses himself in the character and it is so easy to forget who the actor is, which is essentially what we want. Highly Recommended!

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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