Review Roundup: Steve Carell and Channing Tatum Star in FOXCATCHER

Steve Carell and Channing Tatum star in the new biographical drama FOXCATCHER. The film competed in the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where director Bennet Miller won the Best Director Award.

The film is based on the true story of Olympic wrestling champion Mark Scultz, played by Channing Tatum. When established but paranoid-schizophrenic coach John du Pont (Carell) offers to train Schultz for the 1988 Olympics, he views the oppurtunity as a way to disassociate himself from his champion brother, Dave Schultz. But Du Pont's training isn't all it's cracked up to be, and Schultz soon finds himself caught in the center of a heartbreaking tragedy.

Alongside Carell and Tatum, FOXCATCHER features Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, and Anthony Michael Hall.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: It's rare to see such physical male intimacy on screen, especially among men not bonded by war. And it's in the depictions of this intimacy, in its tangle of bodies and desires...that "Foxcatcher" rises to the occasion of real tragedy.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Carell is perfection. So is Foxcatcher, a unique and unforgettable psychological thriller that knocks the ground out from under you.

Justin Chang, Variety: Crucially, this meticulously researched picture feels as authentic in its understanding of character as it does in its unvarnished re-creation of the world of Olympic sports in the late '80s; rarely onscreen has the art of wrestling, centered around the violent yet intimate spectacle of men's bodies in furious collision, provided so transfixing a metaphor for the emotional undercurrents raging beneath the surface.

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Rare is the drama that plumbs the quirky, unsettling depths of human nature like "Foxcatcher." Simultaneously understated and grippingly edgy, this is an arresting examination of naivete, mismatched worlds and old-fashioned American oddness.

Scott Mendelson, Forbes: It tells a story that barely merits telling beyond how it ended and has only the performances to justify its existence. It is a gorgeous and shiny Easter egg with the candy already removed, leaving only the shell to admire.

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: It withholds insights into characters and smothers the audience with its bleak moodiness. Like du Pont himself, Foxcatcherdraws us in without really allowing us to get under its skin.

Rex Reed, New York Observer: It's an amalgam of dramatic all-American themes including ambition, paranoia, greed and the ice cubes in the blood that fuel the ruthless pursuit of success in the competitive world of sports. Color it hair-raising.

Mara Reinstein, U.S. Magazine: ...at its core, this is an astute character study. And Carell, Tatum and Ruffalo - all stretching to the highest acting levels - carve out a compelling dynamic among them. This is brutal, disturbing material, no doubt, but their work needs to be seen. And remembered.

Eric Kohn, Indie Wire: Though anchored by a affecting and sullen turn by Channing Tatum, the movie derives its primary discomfiting power from Steve Carell in a revelatory performance as a monster of American wealth.

A.A. Dowd, A.V. Club: ...the movie reaches for big insights about America's obsession with winning and the dangers of unchecked entitlement, while simultaneously treating its real-life subjects like the stars of a Greek tragedy.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski, Facebook

To post a comment, you must register and login.