--- title: "Foxcatcher" year: 2014 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/foxcatcher" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 21 published: "2026-09-17T07:58:44.260716+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T07:58:44.529767+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Foxcatcher (2014) Directed by Bennett Miller · 2h 14m · MPA R · Drama, Thriller **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 76 from 21 reviews *In a sentence:* The wrestling looks easier than keeping the wealthy man happy > Bennett Miller’s wrestling drama makes money and dependence feel quietly frightening, with Channing Tatum the most affecting of its three leads. The solemn pace sometimes strains our patience, but the performances make it worth staying. ## Synopsis Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) wants to establish himself beyond the shadow of his brother, David Schultz (Mark Ruffalo). John du Pont (Steve Carell) has the wealth to make himself important in their sport and a need for recognition of his own. As Mark Schultz is drawn towards him, the brothers’ relationship becomes entangled with John du Pont’s ambitions. Sporting achievement, family loyalty and a rich man’s expectations begin to compete. Mark Schultz has to judge what this new association offers him, and how much independence he is prepared to give up for it. ## Review Bennett Miller’s *Foxcatcher* is a strong, unsettling drama with a stubbornly slow pace. It takes the competitive world of Olympic wrestling and makes the attention of a wealthy man feel more worrying than anything that happens in a match. John du Pont’s involvement with Mark Schultz and David Schultz gives the film a way to examine who gets to claim credit for other people’s effort. Anyone expecting the reassurance of an underdog sports story should adjust that expectation before settling in. Channing Tatum makes Mark Schultz’s need for recognition painfully apparent. His performance gives the wrestler’s strength something vulnerable underneath it, and the character’s ambition never seems safely separate from his loneliness. Mark Ruffalo, as David Schultz, brings enough ordinary human ease to make that loneliness more noticeable. We found the brothers’ scenes unexpectedly moving. Their convincing closeness gives us something to care about beyond the grim business of watching a rich man acquire influence. Steve Carell makes John du Pont difficult company even when he has our full attention. The physical transformation is striking, though the more troubling achievement is the sense of someone who expects his importance to be accepted without question. Wealth allows that expectation to persist, and Steve Carell lets the neediness show through the authority. We can recognise the appetite for approval without feeling that the film has explained everything about him. That uncertainty is effective for a while. Greig Fraser’s cinematography gives this world a cold, unwelcoming look, while Jess Gonchor’s production design makes the differences in status legible. The money never makes the surroundings seem inviting. Rob Simonsen’s music suits the prevailing unease, though the film’s silences are what stay with us. These choices work together, although the consistency can become wearing: the film offers little relief from its own gravity. The atmosphere is oppressive well before the story needs to become a conventional thriller. The editing by Stuart Levy, Conor O’Neill and Jay Cassidy gives the performances time to develop, and Bennett Miller makes patient use of long takes. We get to notice how the men respond to one another, which matters in a story where so much depends on approval. At 134 minutes, however, the film sometimes keeps us waiting after the discomfort has registered. There are stretches when the cast has made a relationship clear and the film continues to contemplate it. The screenplay, co-written by Dan Futterman, is alert to the humiliation that can accompany accepting help. Its account of John du Pont is harder to settle with, because his disturbing behaviour sometimes seems to be offered as explanation enough. We wanted a clearer sense of how he understands the relationship. Still, the film is right to take his money seriously as a practical source of power. These men do not enter their dealings on equal terms. The reward for staying with it is the acting, particularly the way Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo make brotherhood feel lived in. Their work prevents the film’s ideas about wealth and wounded national pride from swallowing the people involved. We recommend it to anyone prepared for a sports drama with little interest in encouragement. Choose it for an evening when everyone on the sofa has agreed that cheering up can wait. *Fi1m score 82, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to Foxcatcher’s bleak account of wealth, control and damaged masculinity, with the strongest agreement centring on its three leads. Steve Carell’s unsettling transformation draws particular attention, while Channing Tatum’s vulnerability and Mark Ruffalo’s convincing brotherly rapport give the drama emotional weight. The reviews also praise Bennett Miller’s restrained direction, the accumulation of unease and the care taken over the wrestling scenes. For many, its distance from the usual sporting underdog story is a strength. The spread is wide, however, and the same solemnity that admirers find gripping leaves others cold. Even sympathetic reviews register pacing problems or an academic seriousness. Time Out finds the drama too muted despite its performances; the Evening Standard considers it slow and dull. The Independent’s objection goes deeper: the craft cannot compensate for a central figure whose motives remain frustratingly unexplored. The acting earns praise even among the dissenters. ### Reviews we read (21) - **Radio Times**, Leslie Felperin (5/5): A superb film whose surprises and shocks are best discovered without prior knowledge; an American tragedy of warped control and obsession with searing performances from Tatum and Carell plus exquisite craft in all departments. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-c30s24/foxcatcher/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a brooding, particularly American horror story of seduction, rejection, betrayal and murder in the world of Olympic wrestling, calling it a despairing and intentionally disturbing work that holds up a dark mirror to the American dream. He singles out the extraordinary, transformative performances of Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-foxcatcher-20141114-column.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The film is a superb, satiric antithesis of a Hollywood underdog sports movie. It offers a bleak and brilliant portrait of class division and toxic relationships, with career-best performances from Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/08/foxcatcher-review-undoing-of-underdog-sports-movie) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (Critic’s Pick): The critic calls the film an eerie horror story about class, wealth and damaged American masculinity, beautifully acted and impeccably mounted with a focus on atmosphere and character. She singles out the superb lead performances, especially Steve Carell’s physical transformation and the brothers’ scenes. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/movies/steve-carell-and-channing-tatum-in-foxcatcher.html) - **Variety**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a great, brooding true-crime saga and model of bleak, bruising storytelling, anchored by exceptional performances from Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and a transformed Steve Carell. He singles out the film’s sustained intensity, consummate control and authentic re-creation of the wrestling world as a metaphor for emotional undercurrents. [Read](https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/cannes-film-review-foxcatcher-1201185646/) - **Slant Magazine**, R. Kurt Osenlund (3.5/4): Miller crafts an eerie study of capitalism, delusion and obsession through shifting bonds among the wrestlers and du Pont. The film excels in its performances, especially Tatum's vulnerable portrayal of Mark Schultz and the haunting exploration of twisted patriotism. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/foxcatcher/) - **Little White Lies**, Adam Woodward (4/4/3): The critic finds muscular machismo and misplaced American pride in this intense drama with strong lead performances that match the director's solid direction. A true crime story with a twist that ends on a note of reflection about national pride. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/foxcatcher) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): Bennett Miller’s impressively sustained film is a wonderfully taut and thoughtfully unnerving drama likely to attract awards attention thanks to three very different lead performances that dovetail perfectly. The director lets the story and complex characters develop gradually toward a shocking climax. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/foxcatcher/5072112.article) - **Film Comment**, Farran Smith Nehme (75/100, inferred): The critic views Foxcatcher as a moral fable and same-sex Gothic tale about class and wealth's destructive power, praising its detailed accumulation of unease and Carell's nuanced monstrous performance while noting some academic solemnity. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-foxcatcher-bennett-miller/) - **Empire**, Dan Jolin (70/100, inferred): The critic calls it another dramatic triumph for Bennett Miller, though his toughest and least glamorous outing. It is a sad and horrible story, expertly and compellingly told, with strong praise for the cast's performances under Miller's direction. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/foxcatcher-review/) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (3/5): The film is a fascinating curio rather than a genuine heavy-hitter: intense and thoughtful but too dour and muted to catch fire despite flawless performances. Channing Tatum gives a career-best turn but the story lacks real life and energy. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/foxcatcher) - **Vulture** (40/100, inferred): The film is a ponderous true-crime story that bloats a sick joke into something striving for significance, with Carell's eerie transformation as du Pont standing out amid the monotony. Ruffalo's Dave provides the sole engaging normalcy in an otherwise one-track dramatic exercise. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2014/11/movie-review-foxcatcher.html) - **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film beautifully made with gravity and fidelity, praising Steve Carell's extraordinary performance as du Pont. However, it ultimately becomes dull, too long and slow, lacking resonance for many viewers. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/foxcatcher-film-review-steve-carell-is-sensational-as-reallife-billionaire-john-du-pont-9967023.html) - **The Independent** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film brilliantly acted and extremely well crafted in a wintry, slow-burning way but with an emptiness at its core. Du Pont remains too enigmatic a figure for the filmmakers to fully unpick, leaving the film frustrating despite its craftsmanship. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/foxcatcher-film-review-steve-carrell-is-creepily-brilliant-but-this-is-hollow-at-its-core-9965453.html) - **HeyUGuys**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh (5/5): The critic praises the film's exploration of the corruptive power of money and the standout performances, particularly Mark Ruffalo as Dave Schultz and the convincing fraternal bond with Channing Tatum's Mark. It highlights the strong direction, production design, sound design, and subtle screenplay leading to a horrifying conclusion. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2014-foxcatcher-review/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher is an incredibly sad and poignant portrait of two men desperate for greatness they’ll never achieve, destroyed by their failings. Led by astounding performances from Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, and Mark Ruffalo, it is a solemn victory that is incredibly powerful. [Read](https://collider.com/foxcatcher-review-steve-carell/) - **The Wrap**, Sasha Stone (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Bennett Miller for delivering another strong drama about power, wealth and loneliness leading to tragedy. Carell's unsettling performance as the lonely, unlikable John du Pont is singled out, offset by strong work from Tatum and Ruffalo. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/foxcatcher-bennet-miller-makes-another-great-film-about-the-american-dream/) - **Eye for Film**, Owen Van Spall (85/100, inferred): The critic commends Bennett Miller's character study of outsiders and the gripping, superbly acted observational thriller that examines power, family, and the American Dream through the toxic triangle of the Schultz brothers and John du Pont. It singles out the excellent performances by Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and especially Steve Carell for making the film compelling and thought-provoking. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/foxcatcher-2014-film-review-by-owen-van-spall) - **Consequence** (B+): Bennett Miller’s true story shows a struggle for identity by two tortured souls living in the shadows of more accomplished figures, ending in tragedy. Strong performances, especially from Carell and Tatum, make it one of the season’s more essential viewings despite some pacing faults. [Read](https://consequence.net/2014/11/film-review-foxcatcher/) - **Den of Geek**, Ryan Lambie (4/5): The critic praises the magnificent performances, especially Carell's hypnotic villainy, and Miller's building of atmospheric tension through silence and long takes, seeing it as more Faustian than standard sports drama. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/foxcatcher-review-2/) - **Digital Spy**, Ben Rawson-Jones (4): The critic highlights the chilling true story and career-redefining performances by Carell and Tatum, commending Miller's restrained direction and psychological depth while noting a slightly abrupt ending. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/bfi-london-film-festival/a604541/foxcatcher-review-steve-carell-and-channing-tatums-chilling-drama/) ## Details - **Director:** Bennett Miller - **Director:** Bennett Miller - **Writer:** E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman - **Cinematography:** Greig Fraser - **Editor:** Stuart Levy, Conor O'Neill, Jay Cassidy - **Music:** Rob Simonsen - **Production design:** Jess Gonchor - **Costume design:** Kasia Walicka Maimone - **Producer:** Bennett Miller, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik - **Cast:** Steve Carell as John du Pont; Channing Tatum as Mark Schultz; Mark Ruffalo as David Schultz; Sienna Miller as Nancy Schultz; Vanessa Redgrave as Jean du Pont; Anthony Michael Hall as Jack; Guy Boyd as Henry Beck; Brett Rice as Fred Cole - **Runtime:** 2h 14m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 16 January 2015 - **Genres:** Drama, Thriller - **Budget:** $24 million - **Box office:** $19 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhkj1TVITf8 ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Tubi: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, RO, RS, SE, SI, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2015: Best Actor (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Makeup and Hairstyling (nominated); Best Supporting Actor (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Servant* (1963): A wealthy man’s household becomes another study in dependence and quiet coercion. - *Fat City* (1972): Boxers chase small chances while the film watches what ambition costs them. - *Beau travail* (1999): Male discipline and jealousy emerge through bodies, routines and scarcely spoken resentment. - *The Wrestler* (2008), Fi1m 85: Another bruised athlete struggles to imagine a life beyond his sport. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-wrestler.md) - *Burning* (2018), Fi1m 72: Class resentment grows around an affluent man whose intentions remain troublingly unclear. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/mississippi-burning.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/foxcatcher