Foxcatcher tells the real life story of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz and his intense, troublesome relationship with his brother Dave and their insanely rich sponsor-turned-coach John du Pont. It has been receiving high praise since its debut at Cannes in May 2014 and has grown into a multiple Oscar contender since its general release in November.
One of those supporters spreading positive messages early on about the movie was none other than Mark Schultz himself. However it seems like he has changed his mind, drastically. A few days ago Schultz took to his Twitter and Facebook accounts to publicly slate the movie and its apparent homosexual tone.
“Leaving the audience with a feeling that somehow there could have been a sexual relationship between du Pont and I is a sickening and insulting lie. I told Bennett Miller to cut that scene out and he said it was to give the audience the feeling that du Pont was encroaching on your privacy and personal space. I wasn’t explicit so I didn’t have a problem with it. Then after reading 3 or 4 reviews interpreting it sexually, and jeopardizing my legacy, they need to have a press conference to clear the air, or I will.”
The screenplay is based on the book written by Schultz about his time as part of Team Foxcatcher and it’s clear he isn’t happy how people are interpreting the relationship between he and du Pont: “Foxcatcher‘s scenes are mostly straight out of my book…But the relationships and personalities are complete fiction. They’re based on a kernel of truth but not much more than that. Dave was no saint. I was articulate. du Pont was dirtier… Pretty lousy what the director did to my character huh?”
Channing Tatum stars as Mark Schultz with Mark Ruffalo playing his brother Dave and Steve Carell turning in what people are calling a performance of a lifetime as creepy coach du Pont. But it seems that Shultz is directing his anger completely towards director Bennett Miller. He went on a Twitter rant accusing Miller of being a liar and actually threatening him too. Shultz has since deleted the tweets but you can check them out below:
After deleting the tweets Schultz took to his Facebook account to clarify his position:
“My story and my life are real. I am a real human being. While I may have tweeted out of anger, I in no way regret standing up for myself, nor do I regret calling out the only other man who has had decision making power concerning my image and legacy these past years. I apologize for the harshness of my language, but I am firm in where I stand. I will gladly go to any lengths to protect and safeguard the integrity and truth of my story, my life, my character and my legacy. If that’s not worth fighting over while I’m still alive, I don’t know what is”.
Bennett Miller hasn’t commented on the accusations but has spoke in previous interviews of the complexity of Shultz’s and du Pont’s relationship: “They both were looking to validate each other, by association. Mark is this champion and Du Pont thinks he can become Mark’s mentor…Du Pont revered and resented these athletes. He was the ugly girl who hangs out with the pretty girls, the one who finds some way to be part of that crowd but will never really be part of that crowd.”
Foxcatcher is released in the U.K. on January 9th. Check out our reviews here and here.
Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_xnPWgEtI&feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F
Originally published January 2, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
