Foxcatcher

Continuing a quest to see all of the Oscar nominated films and traveling for work, I watched Foxcatcher as an on demand video in the hotel. The film is loosely based on the events surrounding multimillionaire E.I. du Pont family heir and wrestling enthusiast John E. du Pont's 1986 recruitment of 1984 Olympic gold medalist US wrestlers Mark and Dave Schultz. du Pont was recruiting the brothers to help coach US wrestlers for participation in National, World, and Olympic competition for a team called Foxcatcher.

The film stars Steve Carell as John du Pont, Channing Tatum as Mark Schultz, Mark Ruffalo as Steve Schultz, and Vanessa Redgrave as du Pont's mother.

The film is nominated for five Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for Carell, Best Supporting Actor for Ruffalo and Best Director. It is the first film to be nominated for Best Director but not Best Picture since 2008.

This is a very unusual performance by Steve Carell. The physical performances of Tatum and Ruffalo as wrestlers are also somewhat captivating: their posture and way of moving. As a side note, I wrestled my freshman year in high school. Nevertheless, this film is not going to win any Oscars. Additionally, I don't recommend that anyone go out of their way to see it...