FILM REVIEW: "Foxcatcher"

Channing Tatum with his armpits and Steve Carell

I just saw a movie that made me hate wrestling even more than I hated wrestling before seeing it. I might have to say wrestling a few more times so you get the idea this movie is about wrestling, because I did not fully realize that beforehand and so was surprised that so much of the time I was watching beefy men in old-time bathing suits grappling and sweating on the floor. There is a lot of that. (There are no foxes, unless they meant it metaphorically.)

Besides the wrestling, Foxcatcher is mostly about a sick and twisted heir to a fortune. Based on a true story, it revolves around John DuPont, of the DuPonts, as in DuPont. At the time of the film (late 1980s) they were the richest family in America, although now that is likely not true and it might be the Kardashians. The usually comic Steve Carell has undone years of funniness by playing the lead, complete with bad teeth, a big nose and an odd gait reminiscent of the zombies in the graveyard dance in Michael Jackson's Thriller. (And by the way, Michael Jackson was Mr. Normal compared to this DuPont guy.)

The protagonist, Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), is apparently nuts from the get-go. A former Olympic gold medal wrestler now down on his luck, he accepts a tempting offer to live and train at DuPont's Pennsylvania estate. While Mark is permanently bummed-out, his brother Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo), married with two kids, is much cheerier. Also an Olympic gold medal wrestler, Dave eventually joins him as a trainer at DuPont's estate. For reasons we never fully understand, and with little fanfare, he ultimately is shot at close range by DuPont and dies in the snow. (Except for the fact that it really happened, it makes no sense.)

I tell you this so you for sure will not go see this movie, which is very disturbing while also being glacially slow and oddly boring, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever unless you are interested in how to lose 12 pounds in 90 minutes using a Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike. (Pedal really hard.) Also interesting was seeing an ancient Vanessa Redgrave as DuPont's old-as-the-hills mother. She was only around for a few minutes, but she did add some dignity to the proceedings.