Near the beginning of Foxcatcher Channing Tatum's character, Mark Schaltz, looks in the mirror and observes his bruised cheek. The tone is calm, almost relaxing. This is how Foxcatcher begins–with a slow and relaxed pace, just showing us the daily routines of two its characters Mark,and Dave Schultz .The relaxed tone at this point caused a slight problem for me. The film was a tiny bit uninteresting. The acting of course held it together; Tatum showed just how good an actor he is and Ruffalo delved into a role that was meant for him, as it matched the gentle mannerisms of his public persona. The next way the scene continued was Tatum started to poke at the bruise. This can be observed as the next part of the film. Tatum is called upon by John du Pont who wants to create a team of wrestlers to compete at the Olympic Games. The film becomes more intense at this point with the bizarre personality of du Pont starting to creep up on you. This is so effective because Steve Carrel is really great in the role projecting a ton of depth some of it shown,and some of it having to be interoperated. He truly creates a scary character. A man who is seemingly a spoiled brat so far gone that anyone that doesn't take a liking to him or doesn't follow his rules might be in danger. It's haunting just how creepy he becomes drawing you more,and more into this film. By this time I had forgotten about the pace,and just gone with it. Then Tatum starts hitting the bruise a little harder,and the scene becomes more intense. In the later movie we see the bizarre behavior of duPont corrupting the men. This is an interesting way to go,and the actors really show the subtleties. Of course the film still while intense feels kind of sleepy in it's slow pace. At the end of the scene Tatum hits the bruise with vicious punches wincing the scene having built to it's full intensity. This moment in the film comes at the point when a person gets shot. This is an expertly shot scene with the gun being the loudest thing in the theater. This ties together the entire film, and bolsters an emotional punch. What I find most interesting is the fact that it all holds together. This could have devolved into a film that felt ultimately uncomfortable,and boring. Sure some of it is uncomfortable,but nothing is boring. Foxcatcher is a one of the best films of the year,and shouldn't be missed. I give Foxcatcher a 10 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |