Foxcatcher
(2014/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B- Film: B
Bennett
Miller's
Foxcatcher
is an emotional journey and a dark biographical true crime drama that
features great performances, cinematography, and impressive editing.
It looks fantastic on Blu-ray disc and is definitely worth seeing if
you missed it in theaters.
Channing
Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and Steve Carell knock it out of the park with
razor sharp performances that have to be seen to be believed. It's
no surprise that Foxcatcher,
filmed in Pennsylvania, was nominated for five Oscars at the 2015
Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nomination for Carell, Best
Supporting Actor for Ruffalo, and Best Director for Miller. It's
also interesting to note that this became the first film to be
nominated for Best Director but not Best Picture since 2008, when
Julian Schnabel was nominated for The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly,
two years before the Academy extended its maximum number of Best
Picture nominees to 10 films.
The
basis of the story is that the greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion
brother team Mark and David Schultz (Tatum and Ruffalo) join Team
Foxcatcher led by disturbed mama's boy multimillionaire sponsor John
E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that
leads to unlikely circumstances.
Tatum's
portrayal of Mark Schultz shapes a man dedicated to the craft of
wrestling but seemingly living in the shadow of his older brother
David. This is shown in the first act as the brothers train, with
David coming out on top. It's a brilliant way of introducing the
characters with action and not dialogue. From here, we see Mark as a
poor man, who even takes up David's spot speaking at an elementary
school about wrestling and winning a gold medal, to earn a quick
twenty bucks.
Out
of the blue, Mark gets a phone call from John du Pont and is soon
whisked away into his estate and blown away by its scale. He even
gets free room-and-board in an incredible cabin with a fully
functional gym to train in. It all seems too good to be true and is
perceived as such by his brother David - to whom at first declines
due to his commitment to his family. As Mark wins another gold
medal, the relationship between Du Pont and him starts getting a
little too close. Introducing Mark to cocaine and a rich lifestyle,
Du Pont soon realizes that David is a far more focused and effective
fighter and decides to buy him out with an offer that he can't
refuse.
Once
the Brothers are reunited at the Du Pont estate, there is immediate
tension of David once again blocking Mark's shadow, and the two
become more enemies than Brothers. Du Pont, a keen manipulator, is
suddenly given the keys to the family fortune once his elderly Mother
passes and the stakes start to rise. The film's climax is brutal and
real, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth and stirring up your
senses. This is not a pleasant film and nor is it your typical
sports drama. I would compare it to A
Simple Plan
as a relentless thriller with well crafted performances and
characters that show the true ugly nature of humanity.
Presented
in 1080p high definition and a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio with
dense de-saturated colors and impeccable detail, Sony pulls out all
the stops on the presentation. The sound mix is spot on with a
English DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit) that
perfectly captures the intensity of the film. There's also a French
DTS MA 5.1 track on the disc as well.
Extras
include Deleted
Scenes
and a featurette on The
Story of Foxcatcher.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
