A film about wrestling? You’ll be alright. Come on now, give us a chance…
OK what is it? Foxcatcher! It’s the latest in the long line of Oscar-worthy films we’re being treated to ATM. It’s based on the real-life story of eccentric millionaire John Du Pont who starts his own wrestling team headed up by Olympic champion brothers Dave and Mark Schultz.
**Hmm... **Bear with us. Things turn super dark, super fast as John goes from mentor to the impressionable Dave to overbearing captor, all of which culminates in a horribly tragic ending.
OK, sounds interesting… Most importantly though, it stars Steve Carrell as John and Channing Tatum as Mark in the roles set to take the actors from funny men to Serious Act_ors_.
Wowzers. Yep, Steve Carrell’s prosthetic nose renders him basically unrecognisable from Michael Scott in The Office: US. Also, honourable mentions must go to Sienna Miller as Dave’s wife in a weighty role for her – could this be the year of Sienna?
So is it any good? If we’re perfectly honest it does feel like there’s a lot more of this story to be told than is shown on screen and, if you start delving into the real-life back story it becomes apparent that there is. Nevertheless, the film’s got a super creepy feel to it that’ll leave you unsettled for the rest of your night.
Plus, Steve Carrell and Channing Tatum doing Matthew McConaugheys in terms of career 180s is all anyone’s going to be talking about for January, so it’s definitely worth taking a look.
What are other people saying? Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph calls the film a ‘mouth-drying, neck-prickling drama’ while the Toronto Sun calls it ‘a devastating look at the American Dream.’
So who should we go and see it with? I mean it’s long and dark, so avoid taking mates who get restless easily, and those with a tendency towards all things bleak. Instead, take the mate you stay up late having DMCs with and book a table for drinks and chat afterwards.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.