Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo don’t strike you as a combination of names to be associated with an Oscar nominated film; yet Carell and Ruffalo have received nominations for their performances and will be walking down that infamous red carpet to the 87th Academy Awards with a strong chance of winning the coveted Oscar.
The nominations are due to their involvement with the film Foxcatcher, which tells the vile real life story of John Eleuthère Du Pont; an erratic, success driven millionaire and his relationship with US Olympic Wrestling gold medal winners Mark and Dave Schultz. Bennett Miller, the director manages to channel the unsettling nature of the story and give a gripping, slow paced feature.
What’s interesting about this film is the choice of actors taking on such dramatic roles. The casting of Carell, Tatum and Ruffalo who have reputations of being typecast as either; comedic, the “muscle” or quite simply, forgettable and be taken seriously as actors.
It should be noted that despite his almost grotesque looking appearance, there is nothing awful in Steve Carell’s performance, which is simply excellent. His portrayal as the possessive millionaire is uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but it’s the conviction of the character that he should be noted for. Carell seems to capture the uncomfortable manner of Du Pont and make one of the most unnerving film characters in recent history.
Speaking to Vice, Carell highlights his character’s uneasy nature: “The reality of what you can research on Du Pont is frankly much more eccentric than is displayed in the movie, but at a certain point you would stop believing it in terms of a film.”
As always, hype surrounds Oscar touted films, but in this case, it’s worth watching Foxcatcher at its face value which is a brilliant, dark film with outstanding performances.
Words: Brady Frost.
