Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, which opens in Toronto and Vancouver on Nov. 28, leaves you perplexed, stunned and horrified. It’s a film that snares and entraps you in its iron grip.
An American billionaire summons a 27-year-old wrestling champion to his mansion in the Pennsylvania woods, and life is never the same again for either of them. His older brother, also a wrestler, eventually joins them, with tragic results.
Foxcatcher, based on a true story, revolves around three men — Mark and Dave Schultz, the brothers who won gold medals in freestyle wrestling at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and John DuPont, the scion of a legendary family of immense wealth and clout.
The United States has no class system, but under normal circumstances, a man of DuPont’s affluence and social pedigree would not deign to mix with the have-not Schultz’s. DuPont, however, was different. A philanthropist, ornithologist and philatelist, he was drawn to amateur sports, particularly wrestling, and believed that American prestige on the international stage was linked with the ability of gifted sportsmen like Mark Schultz to win world championships.
Schultz (Channing Tatum), a bachelor and brooding loner, is utterly devoted to wrestling. His more outgoing and sociable brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo), is dedicated, too, but as a husband and father, he has a life outside the sport. Dave and Mark, having grown up without a father, are very close. But as an early scene suggests, Mark feels some resentment toward Dave. As they practice their moves in a gym, Mark lands a hard blow, bloodying Dave’s face.
The DuPont connection kicks in shortly afterwards, when Mark receives a cold call from one of his minions. DuPont (Steve Carell) wants to have a chat with him, and Mark flies to his palatial home in a private plane. Bennett manages to create an atmosphere of mystery and apprehension as these scenes unfold.
DuPont, distant and formal, has a game plan. He’s counting on Mark to win the 1987 world title in France, less than a month away, as well as his second gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. DuPont’s proposition interests Mark, who agrees to live on the grounds of his estate, Foxcatcher, and to train there with other wrestlers in a state-of-the-art facility. Mark, having been promised an annual stipend of $25,000, tries to convince Dave to join him, but Dave demurs. He’s too settled to uproot himself, his wife and two children. In his role as Mark’s loving big brother, Ruffalo is a standout.
At Foxcatcher, Mark is given a well-appointed chalet, but warned by an employee to stay away from the thoroughbred horses DuPont’s reclusive and aristocratic mother (Vanessa Redgrave) raises and to respect her privacy. There is an air of menace in the warning.
As time goes on, Mark and DuPont form a reasonably good, though unequal, relationship. Mark is in awe of, and in thrall to, DuPont, who’s building a mini sports empire, not to mention a cult following. Considering Mark a friend rather than merely a wrestler, DuPont asks him to drop all formalities and call him John, Eagle, Golden Eagle or coach. Mark, whom Tatum plays to perfection, regards DuPont as a father figure and mentor, yet the emotional distance between them is quite palpable.
Carell, who normally portrays goofy characters, is superb as DuPont, a collector, manipulator, megalomaniac and narcissist. In his eagerness to acquire Mark as one of his prized possessions, he urges him to detach himself from Dave’s influence. Far from raising any objections, Mark concurs with DuPont’s recommendation. And when DuPont urges him to snort cocaine, which will probably be bad for his health, he does so with little resistance. Mark has become his acolyte, body and soul.
Foxcatcher grows eerier as the dark underbelly of DuPont’s twisted and disturbed personality is further revealed. After Mark informs DuPont yet again that Dave will not join team Foxcatcher, DuPont becomes physically abusive. DuPont, finally, lures Dave and his family to his compound. By then, Mark is thoroughly fed up and disillusioned with DuPont.
At the 1988 U.S. Olympics trials, Mark lives up to expectations, but DuPont’s relationship with Dave takes a nose dive. And this has dire consequences.
Foxcatcher, ably directed by Miller, morphs into a first-class psychological thriller as it approaches its startling denouement. And thanks to its excellent cast, it’s as fine a film as Capote and Moneyball, his previous movies.