That passage of a famous quote from Summer Sanders fits well into the world of Foxcatcher, which is a movie depicting how much the drive to succeed can take a person. And boy howdy does Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) want to succeed. Oh sure, he got a gold medal at the Olympics, but in his own words, he wants to be the best in the world. John Du Pont (Steve Carell) gives him a chance to do that, as he hires Schultz to lead his team of wrestlers to victory.
From that description of the plot, you'd be forgiven, even expected, to think this is some news inspirational sports movie from the guys who brought you classics like Million Dollar Arm. But what's interesting about Foxcatcher is how it utilizes tropes frequently found in inspirational sports movies and puts very unconventional characters like John Du Pont and Mark Schultz into them, twisting those conventions right on their head.
It hit me that the film was honestly a parody feature in the way it spins traditional aspects of sports movies during a scene showing Pont celebrating a victory with his wrestlers, and it was very cathartic to see the film acknowledge this prominent tactic in a moment towards its conclusion. The moment in question depicts Du Pont watching a speech he gave his players, previously depicted in the film in a somber fashion, shown on television in a very upbeat manner. Showing how quickly something as minor as a speech can be twisted around tonally is a large part of why the films screenplay came across to me as very thoughtful and subtle, and the characters in the feature reinforce this notion. Director Bennett Miller does an excellent job translating the scripts first scenes with Schultz to visual form, with his permanent scowl and look of determination putting me on edge, though I was nowhere near as tense as when Du Pont enters the film.
I love how they play up his introduction; he's first shown engaging in causal conversation from a distance, and it's only a short bit later that a medium shot lets the audience get a good look at Du Pont. It unnerved me how successful Carell is hidden as Du Pont, he truly looks like another human being altogether. Props to the makeup department on that one, as well as Carell's performance, which I at first was unsure about, but very quickly I succumbed to his outstanding ability to convey so much menace, even from a distance. Mark Ruffalo, as Schultz's brother, similarly succeeds, especially in more quiet scenes with him and Tatum, and the same goes for the movies cinematography, handled by Greig Fraser, who makes the Pennsylvania landscapes that much of the feature takes place in look absolutely stunning.
While much of the film, as you can likely tell, succeeds, I did find the pacing to be simultaneously a curse and a blessing. The slow, low-key atmosphere of many scenes helps make all the violence and noise of the wrestling matches feel more potent, but it does make the film drag on for a bit longer than it should. But even with excess, it's hard to quarrel too much with a film like Foxcatcher, that certainly thrives on challenging it's actors and audience.
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