"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft, where we are hard, cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand." --F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Rich Boy"
Foxcatcher is a deeply weird, deeply uncomfortable film by Bennet Miller (Capote, Moneyball) that is based on a strange true story. Mark and Dave Schultz were brothers who both won gold medals in wrestling in the 1984 Olympics. You may or may not be surprised to learn that winning a gold medal in the Olympics does not guarantee a life of luxury. The film opens in 1987. Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum, in what's easily the most affecting role of his career--more on that later) lives in a crappy apartment, eats ramen for dinner, and makes the occasional buck giving less-than-inspiring speeches at local elementary schools. His gentle and patient brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo), is doing a little better: he has a wife and a couple of cute kids and he coaches wrestling to make a living. Dave also seems to have a more relaxed sense of self and contentedness with his average post-Olympic life.
Fate literally calls Mark on the phone one day. An assistant of John du Pont, member of the pornographically rich du Pont family, telephones Mark and asks that he come and visit du Pont at the family estate. A little befuddled at what this rich guy wants with him, Mark takes the trip and meets du Pont face-to-face.
John du Pont is played by Steve Carell. With an enormous, beaked false nose, hooded eyes, and age spots sprinkled all over his face, Carell is unrecognizable--and ugly as sin. Carell also speaks with a strange cadence: soft-spoken, with halting pauses in the middle of sentences where you wouldn't expect them (a little like William Shatner). This is a completely vanity-free performance by Carell, who has built his career playing both good-natured and bad-natured doofuses and dorky dads. But John du Pont is something altogether different: a creature born of such wealth that the idea that some people can't be bought simply does not compute in his silver spoon and silk sheet brain. Steve Carell is fucking terrifying as du Pont.
du Pont wants to sponsor the American wrestling team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He wants Mark on the team, and he also wants Dave Schultz to help coach. The reasons behind du Pont's fascination with wrestling are never fully fleshed out, but the film teases that it may partially have to do with du Pont's repressed homosexual desires (particularly during a scene where du Pont beckons Mark to a late-night "practice" session) and also in an effort to gain his mother's approval. Mom du Pont is played by Vanessa Redgrave, who captures the icy cold elegance of a woman who probably had a nanny raise her children for her.
Whatever the reasons for du Pont's love of wrestling, Mark jumps at the chance to feel relevant again and to get paid and live on the luxurious du Pont estate while in training. However, he soon realizes that the man du Pont is really after is his brother, and this leads to extreme tensions between du Pont and Mark.
I don't need to reveal the ending of the film because you can Google "John du Pont Schultz brothers" and read all about it, but suffice it to say that the story does not end well. Foxcatcher doesn't focus on the climax of this strange tale, but the events leading up to it, which make for over two hours of the uneasy feeling that something horrible is about to happen. Trust me, this ain't a popcorn flick.
But the real draw to Foxcatcher are the amazing performances of the three leads. Mark Ruffalo offers support to Tatum and Carell, who are the real stars of this film, by standing aside to let the two other actors have the performances of their careers. Ruffalo plays one of the only relatable characters in the film: a deeply compassionate man who is able to set boundaries with du Pont where his brother cannot.
Tatum is truly brave in this movie. An actor who is known for his muscle and good looks, Tatum plays Mark Schultz as a man who appears to be a big, muscular oaf on the outside, but emotional and needy for approval and acceptance on the inside. I was struck by how often Mark was explicitly or implicitly treated like an animal in Foxcatcher. There's a scene where he has a disagreement with du Pont, who responds by slapping him and calling him an "ungrateful ape". There's a scene where he and dozens of other wrestlers strip down to be weighed during the Olympic trials--men who are reduced to naked bodies to be examined and categorized. du Pont treats Mark like a pet. Where du Pont's mother has her beloved, world-class horses, John du Pont has Mark Schultz--a big, beautiful, pliant animal. Tatum gives an amazing performance walking the fine line between playing up that silent, obedient animal side at times and allowing the audience to see the depth of his humanity at other times.
As I mentioned above, Carell also gives the performance of his career as John du Pont. Not only does he transform himself physically, he takes on the cadence and mannerisms of a strange, rich man who has been sheltered from reality his whole life, yet who understands agonizing loneliness all the same. In one scene he reveals to Mark that he only had one friend growing up...and that it turned out his mother was paying the boy to be his friend all along. Although du Pont is presented as the villain of the movie, it's hard not to have some pity for the man who was crippled under the weight of his family's wealth. No wonder he turns to wrestling--a purely physical, "low" sport (as his mother sneeringly calls it) that is the total opposite of the refinement and elegance he has known his whole life.
I was very impressed with Foxcatcher. In addition to the excellent acting, the film just had a bizarre ambiance that was very unsettling. It takes guts to make a movie that will likely repel audiences, but Bennet Miller did it and the result is a movie that feels like a psychological horror film, but also a glimpse into the lives of the very rich that will make you feel grateful for your average, ramen-eating lifestyle.
A-
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