This will cause the boss to faint, but I went to see Foxcatcher - the first movie I paid to see in nearly 18 years - today. A dark film about a dark period in the life and times of USA Wrestling. John duPont was a poor little rich boy who was never allowed to be a kid because of an overbearing mother who was rigidly fixated with the life of high society. After failing as a swimmer, he decided to get into wrestling and his countless millions made a financially drowning group (USA Wrestling) able to implement a stipend system to keep the top wrestlers in action while having some money in their pocket. In return, USA Wrestling bowed to a developing madman and put his name everywhere. As duPont back-arched into schizophrenia, his checks continued to get cashed and I believe some important folks looked the other way too long. Mark Schultz may have described he and his brother best in a book I read, where Mark said his brother was the wise yoda master and he was the sub-human sledgehammer. Mark was a force of strength-laden nature on the mat, but not everyone took to him because he was not his brothers charismatic self. Team Foxcatcher came along at a perfect time for many of the top wrestlers, who were in essence starving to stay in training. Were Mark Schultz and John duPont made for each other? At times in the movie, you think yes. What was lacking, I thought, was a portrayal of how duPont became enamored with Valentin Jordanov of Bulgaria and basically began to turn his back on the Team USA concept he was funding. Bulgaria made duPont a national hero, while madman duPont chased off African-American wrestlers such as Kevin Jackson and Kanamati Solomon. I tried to interview duPont about the departure of KJ, but was told in what Im sure was a mind warp sense that he would not talk to the media. Dave was forever the smooth operator who could diffuse most any situation, but while he tried to mend fences for his brother and others, while duPont and Jordanov were enamored with each other and while USA Wrestling was trying to reach the summit it hit in 1993, duPont shot Dave Schultz to death. That happened on what was a snowy January day (at least in Des Moines it was snowing then) and I remember getting phone calls from out of state from people wanting confirmation that Schultz had been murdered. I stayed pretty even throughout the movie, but the movies gunfire ripped open a mental wound from that day and it hit me hard. Do I recommend this film? Yes, if youre interested in a bit of history that shaped some things. If youre looking for the whole story, youll need to find a theater that will show you a film about it for seven continuous days, 24 hours and no interruptions. Im not a movie critic, but the movie got me in spots and pissed me off in others. Watch it yourself and see how you like it.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 21:38:49 +0000
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