Very serious and rather demented....the perfect makeup for Academy Award nominations (have you ever seen a comedy get the Oscar).
John DuPont (Steve Carell) has no idea how to make a dollar or how to spend it. He's an amateur birdwatcher (even wrote a book on it), let loose a dozen prized horses, bought a military tank with extras, lives in a remote mega-mansion, flies by helicopter everywhere, pays for a wrestling team (calling himself coach even though he is high school level at best), pays for a flattering documentary of basically himself stating my athletes look to me as a father / mentor, pays to win a seniors tournament, pays to have the entire US team train on his premises, has to be visible as coach at the Olympics and never gave a crap about his own mother...self absorbed to say the least. This is a new thing for Steve to play a character who is basically not sane.
While Mr. DuPont is the focus of interest, we are compelled to identify with Dave (Mark Ruffalo) but not Mark (Channing Tatum) who is supposed to be the main character. You see, Dave is the voice of reason whereas Mark is just another dumbass athlete. In the near end, a shooting occurs to which I say stupid Americans with guns....sorry but you had it coming (I'm Canadian). At the very end, reality again sets in for Mark (Channing) which is a further depressing note.
As for the story, you kinda already know it: two brothers achieve Olympic gold (must have been different weight classes), one gets recruited to train with DuPont, the other is brought on board and Mark achieves gold again. Tragedy is omnipresent throughout the entire film. I give this move a 6/10, as opposed to higher, as it's just not uplifting at all. At the conclusion, I just felt depressed and not motivated to ever watch it again (I define watching a movie more than once as a good movie). See it for sure, but be prepared for a downer if that's your thing.
StevePunchard.
John DuPont (Steve Carell) has no idea how to make a dollar or how to spend it. He's an amateur birdwatcher (even wrote a book on it), let loose a dozen prized horses, bought a military tank with extras, lives in a remote mega-mansion, flies by helicopter everywhere, pays for a wrestling team (calling himself coach even though he is high school level at best), pays for a flattering documentary of basically himself stating my athletes look to me as a father / mentor, pays to win a seniors tournament, pays to have the entire US team train on his premises, has to be visible as coach at the Olympics and never gave a crap about his own mother...self absorbed to say the least. This is a new thing for Steve to play a character who is basically not sane.
While Mr. DuPont is the focus of interest, we are compelled to identify with Dave (Mark Ruffalo) but not Mark (Channing Tatum) who is supposed to be the main character. You see, Dave is the voice of reason whereas Mark is just another dumbass athlete. In the near end, a shooting occurs to which I say stupid Americans with guns....sorry but you had it coming (I'm Canadian). At the very end, reality again sets in for Mark (Channing) which is a further depressing note.
As for the story, you kinda already know it: two brothers achieve Olympic gold (must have been different weight classes), one gets recruited to train with DuPont, the other is brought on board and Mark achieves gold again. Tragedy is omnipresent throughout the entire film. I give this move a 6/10, as opposed to higher, as it's just not uplifting at all. At the conclusion, I just felt depressed and not motivated to ever watch it again (I define watching a movie more than once as a good movie). See it for sure, but be prepared for a downer if that's your thing.
StevePunchard.