1. 18 Entertainment
Kaisa Berg
Unusual and chilling drama
from funny guy Steve Carell
IN 1996 wrestling coach and mul-
ti-millionaire John du Pont drove
up the driveway of his friend
and fellow wrestling coach Dave
Shultz, shot him dead in front of
his wife, and drove off as if noth-
ing had happened.
The psychological thriller Fox-
catcher tells the story of what
came before this brutal murder.
Du Pont wants to make a lega-
cy for himself by sponsoring and
coaching wrestling, and contacts
Olympic gold medallist Mark
Shultz to get him to put together
a team.
Mark Shultz has lived his whole
life in the shadow of his older
brother Dave, who is also a wres-
tler and Olympian Gold medallist.
Mark is immediately taken in
by du Pont’s promise of recogni-
tion and glory and moves to his
family farm Foxcatcher, becom-
ing a mix between his protégé and
servant.
Du Pont wants both brothers
on his team, but Dave Shultz in-
itially cannot be persuaded to
move his family.
In the beginning we are drawn
in by the glamour and the allure
of money, just like Mark Shultz.
But about an hour into the movie
something clicks, and we see who
du Pont really is, not just out of
touch, laughable and pompous,
but a thoroughly disturbed and
unpredictable individual capable
of dangerous actions.
Channing Tatum plays the role
as easily impressionable and not
overly intelligent Mark Shultz
well. Through Mark Ruffalo’s
charismatic performance as his
brother Dave we understand how
he has always lived in his broth-
er’s shadow, and his mixed feel-
ings of resentment and love for
his brother.
The relationship between Mark
and du Pont deteriorates along
with du Pont’s mental health, cul-
minating in du Pont paying Dave
Shultz to come to the farm to act
as Mark’s replacement, fuelling
Mark’s anger and resentment.
Much has been written about
Steve Carell being cast against
type in this movie, and his per-
formance is a remarkable physical
and vocal transformation from his
known persona as lovable come-
dic actor, into the disturbing and
unstable character of du Pont.
Carell does to an extent carry
Foxcatcher, brilliantly and sub-
tly portraying du Pont’s inherent
creepiness and slow unravelling
in a way that makes you feel how
dangerous he is almost intuitive-
ly, before you are aware of it ra-
tionally.
Director Bennett Miller (Ca-
pote, Moneyball) is a masterful
storyteller, and Foxcatcher is
worth a watch both for the re-
markable performances of the
cast, and for the devastating im-
pact of his cool and precise cine-
matic style.
Foxcatcher was shown at the BFI
festival in London, and will be in
cinemas early next year.
Carell: People were afraid of me on set Press conference
STEVE Carell has received great
acclaim for his performance as
millionaire John du Pont in the
movie Foxcatcher, with critics
calling it stunning, transforma-
tive and compelling.
As part of his transformation
into the role, Carell had to wear
among other things prosthet-
ic teeth and a prosthetic nose to
make him look more similar to du
Pont.
“Once all the makeup went on
people reacted and responded to
me differently on set. It influ-
enced the performance more than
I anticipated,” Carell said follow-
ing the screening of Foxcatcher at
the London Film Festival.
“People naturally wanted to be
separated from me, I was off-put-
ting, and organically I just sort of
stayed in character. No one want-
ed to talk to me,” he said.
Foxcatcher has already won di-
rector Bennett Miller the prize for
best director at the Cannes Film
Festival, and rumours have been
circulating that the movie might
earn Carell an Oscar-nomination
for best actor.
“It is nice that people are talk-
ing about the film in that way, but
you can’t really give it too much
credence,” Carell said.
Best known for his come-
dic roles in movies such as The
40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss
Sunshine and in the TV series The
Office, Steve Carell did not seem
like an obvious casting
choice for the role of the
mentally unstable mil-
lionaire John du Pont.
However, Carell
said that he was
not necessarily
surprised when
his agent sug-
gested that he
should try out for
the role.
“I just think of
myself as an actor
Kaisa Berg and Anette Lien like an obvious casting
choice for the role of the
mentally unstable mil-
lionaire John du Pont.
However, Carell
said that he was
not necessarily
surprised when
his agent sug-
gested that he
should try out for
“I just think of
myself as an actor
John du Pont (Steve Carell) with his protégé wrestler Mark Shultz (Channing Tatum) on the Foxcatcher farm. ENTERTAINMENT
and not necessarily a comedic
actor, those are just the parts
that I have been hired to do
more often than not,” he
said.
“I put my faith in
Bennett [Miller, the
director], and I fig-
ured if he thought I
was capable of do-
ing the film, then
I was, so I didn’t
really have any
doubts.”