Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

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Audio:

• The Story of Foxcatcher (16:20)

• Two Deleted Scenes - Conference Call / Where's Dave? (5:08)

• Trailer (2:20)

• Previews

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Description: Foxcatcher is a psychological drama directed by Academy Award nominee Bennett Miller (Moneyball) and starring Golden Globe winner Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo, Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave and Sienna Miller. The film was written by E. Max Frye and Academy Award nominee Dan Futterman. Foxcatcher tells the story of Olympic Gold Medal-winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Tatum), who sees a way out from the shadow of his more celebrated wrestling brother Dave (Ruffalo) and a life of poverty when he is summoned by eccentric multi-millionaire John du Pont (Carell) to move onto his estate and train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Desperate to gain the respect of his disapproving mother, du Pont begins "coaching" a world-class athletic team and, in the process, lures Mark into dangerous habits, breaks his confidence and drives him into a self-destructive spiral. Based on actual events, Foxcatcher is a gripping and profoundly American story of fragile men who pinned their hopes for love and redemption on a desperate obsession for greatness that was to end in tragedy.

 

 

Mr. Miller, however, wants more than just an ordinary American sideshow, and he unwisely tries to expand the story when just telling it would have been enough. At times he seems to be trying to resurrect the idea of two Americas that’s crucial to “Capote,” which tracks Truman Capote’s investigation into the murder of an ordinary family by a pair of killers. But there’s no one here like Capote to guide you through the murk and no one who gives the spectacle of human struggle its spark, as the baseball savant Billy Beane does in “Moneyball.” Mark and John make a fine odd couple in “Foxcatcher” (things get seriously weird at the farm), but they never evolve into the kind of deep, meaningful figures who can carry the weight of Mr. Miller’s symbolism and all those American flags.

Mr. Miller does his finest work with his three superb leads, though I wish he had made more room for Mr. Ruffalo, who enters and exits as Dave flashes in and out of Mark’s life. Some of the best scenes in the movie are of the brothers, including an early one in which they train in their old gym, hitting and grasping in a pantomime of aggression and affection, the crowns of their heads touching like the antlers of young stags testing each other. It’s rare to see such physical male intimacy on screen, especially among men not bonded by war. And it’s in the depictions of this intimacy, in its tangle of bodies and desires — the images of John squirming on top of and below other men say more than any of his pitiful speeches — that “Foxcatcher” rises to the occasion of real tragedy.

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Audio :

There are some extras, although no commentary - that would have been appreciated. The Story of Foxcatcher is a 16-minuite video piece with Bennett Miller, Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo sharing input into the production, how the film evolved and was its casting. There are also two deleted scenes entitled Conference Call and Where's Dave? They run about 5-minutes. There is a trailer and previews as well as the disc having Ultraviolet copy access. Frankly, I think the film deserved more supplements.

BOTTOM LINE:
Highly impacting film. Foxcatcher is brilliantly performed, paced and realized. I went in blind and was blown away. A fascinating story. I only wish there were more extras on the Sony Blu-ray. It's a highly authentic a/v presentation and a film that captures you, exploring a rarely seen topic with some alarming consequences. A very strong recommendation! 

Gary Tooze

February 24th, 2013