Starring — Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo

9 out of 10

By Jace Riley ’16
THE ROUNDUP

One of the most striking things about “Foxcatcher” is that it breaks all perceived ideas of a sports movie.

Sports movies tend to be about dedication, a new technique, overcoming the odds or a person who changed the sport all together.

“Foxcatcher” does touch on the dedication aspect, but that’s not what the movie is about.

Another striking moment is the first words you see on the screen, “Based on a true story.”

The movie’s main character is Mark Schultz, played by Channing Tatum. Schultz is a wrestler stuck in the shadow of his older brother and fellow wrestler, David, played by Mark Ruffalo.

Mark Schultz always tries to stick out, but always seems to not go anywhere.

One night he gets a call from the secretary of John E. du Pont, played by Steve Carell, the wealthiest man in America at the time, saying that du Pont wanted to meet Mark Schultz.

Du Pont’s affluence is shown immediately when you’re shown the size of his monstrous estate that includes many houses.

When they meet, John E. du Pont makes his point very clear: he wants America to take home gold in wrestling.

The rest of the movie is training for the Olympics and the World Wrestling tournament, and the actual events themselves.

As du Pont’s and Mark Schultz’s relationship grows to that of a father and son’s, du Pont’s lifestyle of drugs and alcohol indoctrinates into Mark Schultz’s, and he and his brother drift further and further away. This ruins Mark Schultz’s training and he becomes a mess.

He then becomes closer with his brother and distant to du Pont.

The film captures the intensity of the sport, while showing the downfall of Mark Schultz and his descent into drugs and alcohol.

As someone who hadn’t read anything on the real story, the end was a complete shock.

The end is one of the scariest, yet captivating scenes I’ve seen in a long time.

The three main actors, Carell, Tatum and Ruffalo, all give career best performances. They are truly breathtaking and they are easily award worthy.

This surprised me a lot coming from Carell and Tatum who aren’t known for very serious roles in movies and TV.

The atmosphere of the movie is dark and brooding. The sounds of people slamming against the mat are loud and impactful.

The only problem is that the end seemed to just happen. I wish I had got to see the aftermath of everything.

The end is what made this story so famous and it isn’t fleshed out enough.

I can’t stress how good this movie is. From the atmosphere, the amazing acting from surprising people, and the fact that it moves away from the usual sport movies, it easily earns a nine out of 10.