Foxcatcher is still two weeks away from landing in theatres, and so in order to remind you that it’s the best film you’ll ever see, a brand new poster has arrived! It’s hardly new behaviour for a studio to brandish last minute marketing materials with quotations from positive early reviews, but it does detract from the serious visages of Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. The three leads stand proud before some eagle-inspired artwork and generally look stoic. But don’t take our word for it, check it out for yourself below.
The movie has garnered an enormous clutch of solid reviews after hitting up all of this year’s major film festivals. From Moneyball director Bennett Miller, it looks like we’re gonna be in store for a triptych of lifetime-best performances if the buzz is anything to go by. Tatum and Ruffalo star as two brothers whose wrestling ambitions were taken to a higher plateau when a shifty sporting coach – played by Carell – steps in to inspire the pair. After a TIFF screening, our own Sam Woolf granted it four stars, stating in his review that “If you’re into its rhythm from the first moment, you’ll be spellbound by it to the last.”
You’ll be able to weigh in on whether you agree with Sam’s review when Foxcatcher hits cinemas on November 14th.
Based on true events, FOXCATCHER tells the dark and fascinating story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers.
When Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is invited by wealthy heir John du Pont (Steve Carell) to move on to the du Pont estate and help form a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics at his new state-of-the-art training facility, Schultz jumps at the opportunity, hoping to focus on his training and finally step out of the shadow of his revered brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo). Driven by hidden needs, du Pont sees backing Schultz’s bid for Gold and the chance to “coach” a world-class wrestling team as an opportunity to gain the elusive respect of his peers and, more importantly, his disapproving mother (Vanessa Redgrave).
Flattered by the attention and entranced by du Pont’s majestic world, Mark comes to see his benefactor as a father figure and grows increasingly dependent on him for approval. Though initially supportive, du Pont’s mercurial personality turns and he begins to lure Mark into an unhealthy lifestyle that threatens to undermine his training. Soon du Pont’s erratic behavior and cruel psychological game-play begin to erode the athlete’s already shaky self-esteem. Meanwhile du Pont becomes fixated on Dave, who exudes the confidence both he and Mark lack, knowing that these are things even his money cannot buy. Fueled by du Pont’s increasing paranoia and alienation from the brothers, the trio is propelled towards a tragedy no one could have foreseen.