Movie Review - Team Foxcatcher

Team Foxcatcher (2016)

Directed by Joe Greenhalgh

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Foxcatcher was one of my favorite films of 2014, garnering a top three berth on my Best Pictures of that year (along with multiple other RyMickey Awards).  The story of how the wealthy wrestling enthusiast John du Pont murdered Olympic wrestler David Schultz is a fascinating one so I was looking forward to the Netflix documentary Team Foxcatcher in hopes to find out a bit more information concerning this oddly intriguing and incredibly sad story.

While Team Foxcatcher is a success, it doesn't particularly add a whole lot of info to the tale beyond the fictionalized movie from three years ago.  Sure, we get detailed interviews with a variety of wrestlers who trained at the du Pont compound in Pennsylvania.  David Schultz's wife is front and center in several interviews describing the pleasant and caring du Pont who had lulled the family into a sense of community only to slowly show his mentally unstable colors as the months passed on.  It's all compelling, no doubt, but if you'e seen Foxcatcher, director Joe Greenhalgh's film is a bit of an unnecessary viewing experience.  (It also doesn't mention David's brother Mark who was also a wrestler and lived on the Foxcatcher compound.  Mark's absence is obvious to anyone who had seen the fictionalized film and his participation here would've undoubtedly added depth to the whole flick.)  Team Foxcatcher is a good film and an interesting glimpse into (some) of the key figures of this horrific event, but unless this story is truly a compelling one for you (as it was to me), you're better off just watching the slightly superior narrative film version.

The RyMickey Rating:  B