Review: Foxcatcher

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

Dark, brooding dramas about the characters’ relationship with one another are a rare breed of film these days. Those that do make it to the paying public usually fall flat. But not “Foxcatcher.” This is an atypical drama that manages to keep an audience’s interest alive thanks to the talent involved. It also manages to observe in a very delicate manner the dangers of an endless supply of wealth and the affect it has on everyone near it.

“Foxcatcher” is a true story and depicts events as they occurred in the mid-to-late 80s. Mark Shultz (Channing Tatum) and his brother David (Mark Ruffalo) are Olympic gold medalist. Mark, the younger, feels as though he lives in his brother’s shadow, despite winning a gold medal himself. One day, Mark receives and invitation to visit with John du Pont (Steve Carell) at his estate in the northeast. Du Pont would like Mark to come live on his estate and train at a new wrestling facility he’s opening there, despite knowing absolutely nothing about wrestling. Mark agrees, and soon finds himself becoming good friends with du Pont. At least, that how du Pont sees Mark.

Du Pont is a millionaire and is able to buy anything he wants in life, including his friends and his ability to be a “wrestling coach” with no previous coaching or wrestling experience. The first half of the film is dedicated to Mark and du Pont’s relationship, but the second half is all about du Pont and how he’s able to manipulate those around him with his wealth and influence. Once du Pont is finally able to have David join them at his estate, Mark feels like he’s been cast aside. Indeed he has, as du Pont only really saw Mark as a pet. Meanwhile, du Pont is also obsessed by his public persona and wears different faces in front of cameras and behind closed doors.

“Foxcatcher” is no sports film. Sure, there are sequences of wrestling, but it’s much more than just a wrestling movie. What we have here is well-constructed film about the darker sides of privileged life and wealth. The movie is meticulous in its examination of middle class Americans interacting with those in the upper class. It’s about what someone with money can do to the lives of those around him or her; how they can become involved in something despite having no experience in that field at all. The film is meticulous almost to a fault as the movie moves along at an overly patient pace. At 134-minutes in length, it feels every bit as long.

That shouldn’t take away from what director Bennett Miller (“Capote,”  “Moneyball”) has been able to achieve. Miller has delivered a smart feature with a very dark underlying theme. “Foxcatcher” is just as dark in tone and atmosphere as its subject matter. It might be a very difficult film for everyone to grasp. It’s not excessively pretentious; quite the contrary, in fact. Miller takes a more laissez faire approach. He lets the script propel the film. He lets the actors take center stage. He overloads the film with nothing special or spectacular, other than good old-fashioned directing.

The screenplay comes from E. Max Frye and from Dan Futterman, who wrote Miller’s “Captoe.” It is a solid and well-researched piece. It may take one or two creative liberties with the characters since most of the interactions in the film occur behind closed doors and away from public view. Du Pont was quite interested in having his life on public display, and he would be present and engaged whenever cameras were around. It wouldn’t be possible to build a story around du Pont by using only these images and have it be accurate.

The script tends to lack additional substance outside of the main story. Sure, there are some small subplots involving Dave and Mark’s relationship, along with du Pont’s interesting relationship with his mother (Vanessa Redgrave). Overall, some points in the story tend to be drawn out just a little more than necessary. Again, it’s over two hours long and definitely feels it.

“Foxcatcher’s” main attraction is the acting, which is beyond sensational. Tatum turns in his macho action film personality for something a little more subtle. We’ve seen him try this before in a few roles, but in “Foxcatcher” he really shows his versatility. He doesn’t have too many lines, and when he does speak he delivers them just barely over a whisper. He plays the part well, but he’s not the brightest star here. As Mark’s brother David, Ruffalo is nothing short of spectacular. He’s shown his range in films before, but nothing like he shows here. My only gripe is that he isn’t in the film more, but I can’t really hold that against him or anyone else.

As good as Ruffalo is, Carell is a revelation with this masterful performance he shares with us. Forget his usual comedic performances like “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” or the “Anchorman” films. Forget his shtick on “The Daily Show” or his long running stand on “The Office.” This is a completely new direction for Carell. It’s a performance no one could have expected coming from him. He completely embodies du Pont and vanishes right into the character. My favorite part about his performance is the complete and utter lack of life and empathy behind his eyes in every scene. You know this man isn’t exactly sane and that there must be something running through his mind, but you can never tell what he’s thinking. It’s just an absolutely mesmerizing performance by Carell.

While the film is a bit too long and little drawn out in places, there is a lot to like about “Foxcatcher.” It’s a fascinating look at what might be going on in some of America’s most wealthiest of estates, and the interactions those people have with the members of the middle and lower classes. Combine that with some solid, traditional filmmaking and sensational acting and you’re left with an exceptionally well-crafted film.

Review: 22 Jump Street

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

“22 Jump Street” is a movie that doesn’t lie about what it is. It’s an R-rated summer comedy film, but most importantly (and they don’t want you to forget it) it’s a sequel. In an age where the movie going public says they’re tired of sequels, remakes and reboots – yet pays to go see them anyway – “22 Jump Street” opens and tells its audience that it is definitely sequel and that it’s going to be just like the first time. It even hints at many more to possibly come.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film “21 Jump Street” but I did like the pairing of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense why those two would be paired for a buddy-cop action/comedy, but at least it worked. For “22 Jump Street,” Hill and Tatum return as Schmidt and Jenko. We open with them attempting to bust a smuggler known as The Ghost (Peter Stormare). Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) doesn’t think anyone likes them busting up smugglers, so he’s sending them back to Jump Street to do more of what they did the first time around. I’m not paraphrasing that; Offerman really says that showing us once again that this is a sequel and it’s going to be exactly like the first time.

On Jump Street, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) assigns them to a nearby college to investigate a growing drug problem. A young student named Cynthia has recently overdosed on a new drug that’s going around campus and they need to find the supplier and find the dealer – just like the first time. Early evidence leads them to some football players including Zook (Wyatt Russell) who shares a very similar personality to Jenko. Left out of all the fun, Schmidt is left to look into Cynthia’s dorm neighbor Maya (Amber Stevens) and Cynthia’s ex-roommate Mercedes (Jillian Bell). Working apart for one another causes a bit of a rift between Schmidt and Jenko.

And we’re reminded every chance they get that this is the second time around and it’s just like the first time. We’re told they’ve spent more money this time around and expect better results. There’s even a little dig at how Jenko did some Secret Service work since the first time but that didn’t work out too well (a little slam at last summer’s “White House Down”).

Using the same format again for the sequel under the assumption that it worked well the first time never really works (see – or rather don’t see –  “The Hangover Part II”). The formula used for the first film is utilized here too, just like they say numerous times in the movie. As the movie progresses, you start to notice that they’re actually telling a different story and it is – in fact – not like the first film at all. And that’s quite a relief.

There’s nothing worse than a movie sequel that knows its going to be terrible and attempts to make its audience entertained by forcing the same plot line down their throats complete with the same jokes and gags. They think we won’t notice, but we do (see – or rather don’t see – “The Hangover Part II”). One thing I always notice in sequels is that the characters established in the first movie are often turned into caricatures of themselves in the second. The “dumb one” in the first movie is flat out stupid in the second one. The “smart one” keeps the plot moving in the first, but is reduced to telling jokes that don’t fit his personality in the second.

“22 Jump Street” doesn’t do that to its characters. We got to meet Schmidt and Jenko in the first film and got to know who they are. In this sequel, they’re the same people. And since Schmidt and Jenko were what kept “21 Jump Street” from being a total disaster, why would they need to be over embellished in the second? And they’re thankfully not.

Hill and Tatum are a great team. Since they already used the first movie to establish these characters, there’s no need to spend anytime on further development. It’s like seeing friends we haven’t seen in two years and feeling like we haven’t lost any time. Ice Cube gets more screen time too, which is a welcomed addition. He starts out doing the same thing he did in the first film, but as it begins to distance itself from the first, Ice Cube gets more face time.

The character Jillian Bell plays is outstanding and absolutely hilarious as well. Bell is famous for her role on Comedy Central’s “Workaholics” and she nearly steals the show in this movie. A scene with her and Hill is featured in the preview for this film, and its even funnier than what’s shown in the trailer.

Normally I’d pan a blatant cash grab sequel like “22 Jump Street” but it’s so much fun and utterly amusing that I can’t help but praise it. Those who thought “21 Jump Street” was great (and I was not one of them) will love this one even more. The jokes are new and aren’t rehashed from the first. The plot line is different enough to keep us guessing. And the characters aren’t radically different this time around. It’s refreshing to see a sequel do it’s own thing while at the same time acknowledging that its here just to take some more of your hard earned cash. You’ll walk away not feeling cheated by a sequel for once (see – or rather don’t see – “The Hangover Part II”).

Review: White House Down

by. Joe Moss
★★

Roland Emmerich’s “White House Down” brings us the second white house take-over film this year [the other Being “Olympus has Fallen”…reviewed by Trevor May 3^rd] but that is not necessarily a good thing. The story, written by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Losers) seems tired—full of the standard espionage clichés.

The President makes a political move that prompts  power-hunger weapons companies to want him removed from office; a plan is set in motion to take him down; the proper people are paid off from all levels of the government; mercenaries are hired; and a down-and-out soldier saves the day. Seem all-to familiar?

Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained) plays President James Sawyer, a very President Obama-esc president. He never served in the US Military and is about to abolish the war in the middle east and completely withdraw all military presence based on information given him by the Iranian President AL-Shareef. This is not a very popular move on Capitol Hill, especially with Speaker of the House Raphelson (Richard Jenkins) as is intoned during a private conversation with his lead Capitol Hill Police officer, John Cale (Channing Tatum).

John Cale desires more than being Capitol Hill police and is set to interview with Secret Service for a job at the White House. At the interview he discovers that an old college flame, Carol Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is now the Special Agent in charge of White House Secret Service personnel. After telling him that he is unqualified for the position, he is summarily dismissed. However, since he brought his daughter along on the interview [exactly…WHAT???] he decides to take White House Tour that is just beginning as they are signing out to leave.

John’s daughter, Emily Cale, played by Joey King (Oz the Great and Powerful) is the break-away star of the movie. During the ensuing White House take-over, she records information on her phone and posts it to her YouTube© blog for the world to see. She becomes an internet and media darling—ultimately leading the bad-guys to recognize her and use her as bait to lure John Cale out of hiding with the President who he managed to rescue from uncountable mercenaries armed with fully automatic weaponry.  King’s performance is amazing as she plays a modern-day damsel in distress courageously and defiantly. She provides the much-needed (albeit shallow) depth to the film’s entire story line.

During the course of this film we come to realize that not only are multiple people on Capitol Hill unhappy with the president, but his own head of Secret Service, Special Agent Walker (James Woods) is in on the hatred as well—due to his son being killed in a President sanctioned Marine insurgence into Iran. He is working with Stenz (Jason Clarke…Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless) and Tyler (Jimmi Simpson…Date Night, Zodiac) to help reestablish the United States’ position in the Middle East.

I will not spoil entire plot (as it is much too thin already) but it is safe to say “White House Down,” while not big on plot and innovative storyline, should easily satisfy all of the big booms and gun-fire that everyone expects from this type of film. On that front, the film editing by Adam Wolfe (who has started to transition from TV series like Criminal Minds and Third Watch) and sound editing by Jamey Scott (Total Recall 2012) are spot on.