Review of Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher (2014)
4/10
Drama Day for Frankenstein, Igor and Wreck-It-Ralph
7 March 2015
The do-over for Steve Carrell is exactly how Frankenstein would end up if a make-up artist wanted to make him look human, and likewise Tatum Channing <=> Igor.

And if for some reason Frankenstein and Igor HAD to go plodding into a drama, then this movie would be the hilariously boring result. Mark Ruffalo's character did remind me of a bearded Wreck-it-Ralph, but at least there wasn't any weird prosthetics or forced facial movements.

Steve Carrell's immovable poorly done pasty-coloured forehead and Tatum's forced protrusion of the lower mandible … coupled with their very awkward posturing and walking movements (probably thanks to over enthusiastic 'theatrics' coaches) plus minced marbles-in-my-mouth dialogue, are all constant distractions …. even unintended entertainment … which soon drags on and on in this uninspired movie.

The real John du Pont and Mark Schultz have vastly different facial looks from the forced caricatures of what you find in this movie. Since the faces of both real men are hardly well-known, the actors should have been allowed to have their natural faces … and that's where the talent of each (if they had one) would be allowed to shine. And yes, the real John du Pont's forehead did move and his face did look like a proper living person, and the real Mark Schultz was not a protruding-jaw klutz. So why the odd prosthetics and make up here??

I am all for slow movies with panning scenes in a slow-burn drama … when it allows you to get immersed in the entire experience, but here in Foxcatcher the snail and tortoise races to be the slowest in a totally insipid and inane who-cares frame-by-frame.

After watching this movie, I read up on the real back-end story, and it is in fact more interesting reading about it then watching this extremely forced and unnecessarily stretched out and poorly executed 'dramatization' of events.

It is like watching our three actors starting out on their idiocy SNL routine … and then the audience having to wait for the punchline that never came even after over 2 hours!

Should have watched SNL instead :(
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