Foxcatcher

Based on a true story

Blaine: At first I thought “ Foxcatcher" was going to be a comedy because it has Steve Carell and Channing Tatum and they're both funny guys. But then I found out it's really a drama and that it's based on a true story and said "Oh". I saw "Foxcather" during the last week of December 2014 and my mom joined me.

Plot (Spoiler Alert)

A rich wrestling enthusiast named John du Pont wants Mark Schultz, who is a Olympic Gold Winning Wrestler, to be a part of his team, “ Foxcatcher". John also wants Mark's brother, Dave, who is also an Olympic Gold Winning Wrestler, to be a part of the team as well, but Dave declines for the sake of his family. John du Pont is one of those people who is rich but isn't happy. He and his mother dislike each others interests. She's into horse racing and he's into wrestling. John gets upset with Mark after he he gives his teammates at Foxcatcher a morning off and feels it was mistake to hire him. John’s words get to Mark. Dave finally joins and moves his family Pennsylvania. Dave feels there’s something up between Mark and John and Mark won’t tell him what’s wrong. Mark shuts his brother, Dave and du Pont out. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Mark has trouble concentrating on wrestling which causes him to fail. He goes back to his hotel room and in a fit of self-loathing starts punching himself and trashes his hotel room. In further destructive behavior, he then orders a large amount of food from room service and starts gorging himself. Dave enters Mark’s room and helps him back on his feet and keeps John away from him. Mark does ok, but he feels he can’t stay at Foxcatcher’s training facility anymore. Dave lets John du Pont know that the money he makes goes to Mark. In the end, John goes insane and shoots Dave to death and then gets arrested for murder.

Blaine: I'm not too big of a fan of Bennett Miller's work in the past like "Capote" and "Moneyball", but “ Foxcatcher” is more my kind of film even though it was a little quiet. The characters are what I love most about the film including the John du Pont character that Steve Carell plays. I find John interesting even though he's dangerous. My favorite line John says is "I am leading men. I am training them. I am teaching them. I am giving them.....a dream. And I'm giving America hope.” Another thing I like is that John du Pont would provide his wrestlers with a house, a gym, food, water, money, you name it. Mark would shut Dave out because he was very upset because it's John du Pont who’s getting to him. Then when Dave enters his room and sees it’s a wreck and sees Mark’s forehead is bleeding, he knows John du Pont is the problem. It’s nice that Dave is always looking after his brother. He feels the best way is to get him back on his feet and try to keep John out of the way.

The Story of Foxcatcher

    The story came to Director Bennett Miller when a stranger wrote him a note. And Bennet said he was taken immediately by it and was able to decide that this was something he wanted to do. It took about eight years to process it and Bennett didn't grow tired of it during that time. At first Channing Tatum wasn't interested in the job when he was offered it because he had a hard time understanding what the project was, but Bennett Miller knew Channing was the right guy and really wanted him and he asked him to think about it.

    Channing also couldn’t understand why Bennett Miller would want to make something like this because he felt there’s no resolution at the end. Channing said yes anyway and the next actor Miller was after was Steve Carell. Bennett felt it was important for whomever would play John du Pont to be be surprising in the role. Because he felt the character himself is surprising. Steve Carell was the only one who said yes immediately after reading the script and finding it to be great, dark, tragic and intriguing. Steve also wanted to work with Bennett Miller because he’s a fan of his work in the past.

    The head of makeup department, Bill Corso said Steve Carell as the character, had to be unrecognizable. Bill also said he loves a challenge and loves to do makeup that doesn't look like makeup. If it didn’t look real to him, then it didn’t work for him and he would try something else.

    Bennett also knew he wanted Mark Ruffalo, but he was afraid Mark would turn him down. Mark’s manager told him about this wrestling movie and Mark was a wrestler in high school and he knew who the Schultzes were and a little bit about the story. Bennett knew Mark was not only a great actor, but also a great presence to have on set.

    Mark Ruffalo spent time with one of Dave Schultz's coaches, Tadaaki Hatta. Dave's widow Nancy came to visit one day while they were shooting. Bennett said "watching her see the location and seeing the job that production designer, Jess Gonchor had done, the effect that it had on her made us all feel that we had kind of gotten that right.”

Mark asked to speak with Nancy and meet with her because he wanted to make sure he was getting the part right. Nancy also felt the pressure to make sure they would do their best to honor Dave’s memory.

Nancy and Mark became friends online and Mark would send her emails with a list of questions. Nancy was nice enough to loan Dave's glasses to Mark because he was curious about what kind they were and he would wear them whenever there was a scene where Dave would wear his glasses.

The real Mark Schultz would visit as well and Channing Tatum found him to be one of the most interesting people he’s ever met.

Bennett Miller: Making a film like this is such a personal experience for, really, everybody involved. It’s a sobering story. And I just—I like sobering stories. I like the films that peel back the guarded truths of people’s ives and kind of in a unflinching way, look at something that’s bizarre, that’s spectacular. And when you add it up, it strikes a chord.

My rating on “Foxcatcher” is five out of five stars.

The real John du Pont

The real Dave and Mark Schultz

Awards

“Foxcatcher” was honored the Special Distinction Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Nominated for five oscars for Best Actor: Steve Carell, Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay and Best Makeup. I felt it also deserved a Best Picture nomination.

Music

The music score was done by Kristian Eidnes Anderson, although there's not a lot of music in the background through out the film.