Foxcatcher is one weird little movie. A super rich guy who loves wrestling decides to train Olympic wrestlers on his family estate to the disapproval of his elderly mother. His recruitment of two brothers to train with him and help in this endeavor leads to rifts and conflict between all of them.
Everything about this film is slow and quiet and sort of passive aggressive. Even the wrestling. Plot details are revealed without pomp and circumstance, decisions are made with very little to do. It kind of lulled me into the feeling that nothing much was happening. And then shocked me significantly when something really did happen. I wasn't as I drawn in to the film as I might have liked, but I do appreciate the style choice.
This film was nominated for Directing without being nominated for Best Picture. What, now? There are five nominees for Directing and eight for Best Picture, so the Academy is saying that the directing of Foxcatcher is better than four of the best films of the year. I don't quite see how they justify that. And for my money, the directing in Whiplash and Selma was far superior.
Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo are both nominated for their portrayal of really strange individuals. They were so strange that they probably would have come off as comedic if the film hadn't been so subdued in its delivery of them. I enjoyed this one (whew!) but didn't love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment