Air
Some films feel important from the very first frame. Foxcatcher, with its dreamy slow motion historical footage, and sparse soundtrack, is one of them.
After winning best director at the Cannes Film Festival, Bennett Miller's new film was an obvious choice for this year's line-up. It doesn't hurt that it packs some diverse star power with Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carrell. The story of Olympic gold medal wrestler Mark Schultz's relationship with billionaire John du Pont gets a treatment closer to Capote than _Moneyball _(Miller's two other directorial efforts, also based on true stories). The film is less interested in giving us information than atmosphere, with cold colours and restrained dialogue.The only real flourish is Carrell's elongated nose, but even that quickly feels of service to the bigger story.
It's an accomplished film that's worthy of the hype, but the buzz is more about meeting (fairly high) expectations than delivering a real showstopper.
Sincerely,
Christopher
