A&E Example Publication

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT . KITSAP SUN « Friday, February 6, 2015 «11
FOXCATCHER
from 10
money to become a famous
stamp collector and then, in
his50s,decidedathleticswas
thenextfieldhe’ddabblein.
He collected Olympic
wrestlersandswimmersat
his family’s Pennsylvania
estate. He liked to change
his sissy French middle
name “Eleuthere” to “Eagle,”
and some of his lackeys
bought into it.
SteveCarelltransforms
himself into a flesh-andblood
version of his “Despicable
Me” super villain
“Gru”asduPont,abeadyeyed,
eagle-beaked, barrelchested
man-child who
lured Olympic wrestlerbrothers
Mark (Channing
Tatum) and David Schultz
(Mark Ruffalo) to his stateof-the-art
facilities, where
he could wear tracksuits
andkneepadsandpretend
to coach them (older brother
Davewasacollegecoach
and Olympic champion)
andthenbaskintheglory
of “his” achievement.
Carell’s thick-featured,
50ishduPontdoesn’tlook
like the bearded madman
wesawontheeveningnews.
Butwitheverybreath,every
brown-toothed grimace of a
smile, he lets us know this
guyis“off.”
Andsoishis“protege,”
Mark Schultz. As Mark, Tatumjutshisjawandkeeps
his head down, covering
ground in a muscle-bound
simian stride. Always focused,
Mark has an Olympicgoldmedalandacollege
degree, but he relies on his
brother for training and access
to the facilities where
Dave is coach. Mark needs
thetinyperdiemschools
payhimtospeaktostudents
andshowhismedaljustto
eatandgasuphischeap
hatchback. When du Pont
calls,offerstoputhimup,
feed and pay him, it’s the
answer to a prayer.
It’s just that du Pont, assembling
a crack Team
Foxcatcher, wants Dave,
too. And the wily older
brotherisslowtowarmto
the weirdo.
“What’s he get out of
all this?”
A tug-of-war over the
fragile Mark ensues between
the brother-coach
and the fellow whose familyhasbeenrichforsomany
decadesthathefiguresanything
can be bought — including
Olympic glory.
Actor’s director Bennett
Miller (“Capote”) introduces
Ruffalo and Tatum in an
almost dialogue-free opening
— training, wrestling,
gettingundereachother’s
skin and drawing blood.
Their sibling connection
can be read in Rufflalo’s
eyes, in the way Tatum
leans in to him, forehead
on forehead, a wrestling
posture that symbolizes
their communication and
closeness. It’s no stretch to
see the beefy Tatum as an
athlete,buthebringsasullenresentmenttotherole,
an accomplished Olympian
Mark Ruffalo(left)and
Steve Carell
starinascene
from “Foxcatcher.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
stuckinhisbrother’sshadow.
Ruffalo bulked up and
mastered the physical shorthandofthesportforhis
part,andbringsaregarding
soulfulness to Dave. He
watches this odd duck his
brother has hooked up with,
and worries.
Carell, though, is the
realshocktothesystem
here.Heisquirky,queer
in the old fashioned sense,
and pathetically funny.
HisduPontisawannabe
surrounding himself with
real athletes. Carell makes
youfeelsorryforthelonely
rich man, failing to impress
his dowager mother (Vanessa
Redgrave), collecting
tanks, enjoying target practice
with the local police on
arangehehasbuiltonhis
family’sestate.It’salifeof
impunity,isolation,drugs
andacravingforaccomplishmenttomatchhislegendary
ancestors.
Miller and his screenwriterstoywiththetimelineof
events—mostofwhatishere
happens around the Seoul
Olympics of 1988, du Pont
didn’tsetuphistraininguntil
the 1990s.
Butthatdoesn’tdiminish
or dilute the point of “Foxcatcher”—thattothemoneyed
classes which no “death
tax”cantouch,therestofus
are eternally “ungrateful.”
Andtheircontemptcanhave
deadly consequences for peoplewithsolittleregardfor
those they dare not call “the
little people” except behind
closed doors.
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