Achieving glory

Coach is the father. Coach is a mentor. Coach has great power on athlete's life.

It's sad to see a dream go unrealized; what's sadder is attempting to achieve a goal that was doomed from the very beginning. Foxcatcher tells the story of the wealthy du Pont heir John du Pont (played by the unrecognizable Steve Carell) who recruits the Olympic gold medalist wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz (Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum) to train U.S. wrestlers to compete for the 1988 Olympics. Mark sees this as an opportunity to stop living in his brother's shadow, who has had more success and attention since their gold medal win at the 1984 Olympics. At first, the two manage to form a friendship leading to their first win at the 1987 World Wrestling Championship. But things change as

their relationship slowly starts to deteriorate as du Pont's true nature begins to unravel; the revelation being a decrepit, psychotic man who is blinded by his own vanity and pride. All this leads to a series of unfortunate events that affects not only the Schultz brothers but the entire du Pont dynasty as a result; a classic tale of how greed can cause an individual to do irrational things. I knew going in Foxcatcher was going to end with a tragic climax and yet I still wasn't prepared for what was going to happen. I kept thinking things would turn around, the brothers would reconcile or John du Pont would have an epiphany and realize the errors of his ways. But sadly, the story played out as it did in real life which was all the more shocking. The film did a clever job of disguising John du Pont's dark nature, and Steve Carell's performance truly brings out the character. That is to say all the three lead actors did an excellent job, among the best casting I've seen for a film in years. Mark Ruffalo shines as the older brother Dave Schultz, embodying not just the

Channing Tatum as Mark Schultz

physique but his spirit as well. Personally, of the three, I have to give kudos to Channing Tatum. I never warmed up to him as an actor for a serious role; mostly as an action star or the "romantic-comedy" guy. But after watching him in Foxcatcher, I can honestly say Tatum has come a long way and it shows how much of his experience as an actor has helped him achieve what was needed or should I say demanded for the role. To anyone who was around or was aware of the du Pont scandal back in the day, they'll more or less be aware how things will turn out. To those who don't know the history of this story, Foxcatcher is one of those movies that will serve as a reminder that the greatest of tragedies can be caused by something as simple as our flawed human nature.

-Reviewed by Razor, 3/6/2015