The story behind Team Foxcatcher captured the imagination of the nation during the 1990s. A man in John Du Pont, desperate to put some stamp on the athletic world, killing one of the best wrestlers in United States' history. It divided the team and ultimately led to more drama off the mat than on.
What made this documentary superior to most of its contemporaries was the exclusive footage provided by the wrestlers. Also, unlike the ESPN 30 for 30 take on the story, we got a wider array of opinions as well as a deeper dive into Du Pont's wayward emotional state that eventually ended with him killing Dave Schultz.
Between the sudden fascination of the story being brought into popular media, this story takes the time to build the worldview of Du Pont and how a man who was never loved or supported created Foxcatcher Farms as a way of dealing with his strife. His mental state just didn't run parellel to the type of person that could sustain this world, and it was little surprise his life went off the rails so quickly.
While the story does humanize Du Pont a little, it mostly stays on track with the primary story...a world where Olympic wrestlers competed and trained to be the best in the world. In a lot of ways this place was an athletic Camelot, but the nightmare ended quickly that fateful January day in 1996.
If anything, the true story of Foxcatcher is one of desperation and sadness. People will go to the furthest reaches to make themselves feel important. Sadly, many of them step on a lot of people along the way.
What made this documentary superior to most of its contemporaries was the exclusive footage provided by the wrestlers. Also, unlike the ESPN 30 for 30 take on the story, we got a wider array of opinions as well as a deeper dive into Du Pont's wayward emotional state that eventually ended with him killing Dave Schultz.
Between the sudden fascination of the story being brought into popular media, this story takes the time to build the worldview of Du Pont and how a man who was never loved or supported created Foxcatcher Farms as a way of dealing with his strife. His mental state just didn't run parellel to the type of person that could sustain this world, and it was little surprise his life went off the rails so quickly.
While the story does humanize Du Pont a little, it mostly stays on track with the primary story...a world where Olympic wrestlers competed and trained to be the best in the world. In a lot of ways this place was an athletic Camelot, but the nightmare ended quickly that fateful January day in 1996.
If anything, the true story of Foxcatcher is one of desperation and sadness. People will go to the furthest reaches to make themselves feel important. Sadly, many of them step on a lot of people along the way.