Foxcatcher

The line between comedy and tragedy has always been a razor-thin one, which may be one of the reasons that comic actors reach toward the farthest and most morose poles when they turn to drama.

Steve Carell stars in Bennett Miller’s dark and compelling Foxcatcher as the real-life billionaire John DuPont, the scion to a legendary American family fortune. DuPont was also a paranoid schizophrenic who murdered wrestling champion/coach Dave Schultz in 1996 shortly after a falling out with Dave’s younger brother Mark. At first glance, Carell almost looks like a “stunt” choice for the part of DuPont, but it is inspired casting by Miller (Capote, Moneyball).

This is the darkest and bleakest role that Carell has ever played, yet he uses his comedy-honed physical and vocal chops (as well as generous amounts of makeup) to disappear into the role of the pale and paunchy DuPont. Carell sucks the air out of the room in every scene, but in a manner common to men of unquestionable power and wretched social skills.

That feeling of borderline absurdist tension and unrest is present from the opening scenes of the film, as 1984 Olympic gold medal winner Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) delivers an inspirational speech about pursuing dreams to uninterested elementary school children, then cashes in the meager speaking fee for a fast-food cheeseburger and another box of ramen. Mark is a hornet’s nest of contradictions – he advocates for an American Dream that fails him – and in DuPont he finds a father figure.

Both Mark and DuPont are men overwhelmed by family legacies – DuPont by his old-money name and Mark by his self-assured brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo). When DuPont summons Mark to his estate, he offers him an opportunity to form a wrestling team and train at the fully equipped on-site wrestling facilities. DuPont is psychotically wealthy. When he fires a gun in the training room, heads barely turn. The decent Dave seems incapable of mutating himself before DuPont’s wealth, but it doesn’t mean he can’t be bought.

The podium topper here is Ruffalo – he delivers the best supporting performance in any film this year. Ruffalo modulates his posture to the hulking hunch of a born wrestler. Early in the film, Ruffalo and Tatum engage in an extended warm-up scene that moves from tenderness to fury. It is a sequence of tremendous physical acting, and just right for a film that peers inside the class-system engine and finds only pain and oppression.

Foxcatcher (4) Directed by Bennett Miller • Starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo • Rated R • 129 mins. • At Century Cinemas Del Monte, Lighthouse Cinemas..