“Team Foxcatcher” (2016) / Z-View

Team Foxcatcher (2016)

Director: Jon Greenhalgh

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Billionaire John DuPont was always a bit off.  DuPont’s eccentricities were overlooked because of his philanthropy.  He was very generous.  Mr. DuPont supported his city police, athletic sports and various charities.  When John DuPont took an interest in Olympic wrestling, he went all in.

John DuPont built a million dollar facility on his sprawling estate.  In addition to his mansion, there were several houses, a state of the art weight/workout center and a gigantic wrestling room with multiple mats.  DuPont hired a full-time trainer.  John reached out to Dave Schultz, the United States most decorated world champion/Olympic champion wrestler.  Dave Schultz agreed to come on board.  DuPont then contacted other of USA’s best wrestlers to join his team.  He provided them housing and a stipend to come train as part of his team.

This was seen as a godsend by the invited wrestlers.  They no longer had to worry about supporting themselves.  They could train every day with the best wrestlers in the world.  DuPont’s system worked.  The USA team begin to win consistently.

DuPont had always been off kilter.  He was slowly getting worse.  DuPont thought he was capable of wrestling competitively.  The wrestlers, not wanting to upset him, played along.  When he began seeing “things” in the woods around his house, most of them went along.  Then he wanted to get rid of anything black in his life.  He sold his black horses.  He told one of the wrestlers living on the compound to get rid of his black car.  He then fired all of the black wrestlers on Team Foxcatcher.  Even when he pulled a gun on one of the wrestlers, it was played off as “John being John.”

Then one morning John DuPont drove over to the house Dave Schultz was staying.  Dave and his wife were out front.  DuPont rolled down his window and shot Dave Schultz in the chest.  Murdered him in cold blood.

This is the story of how too much money blinded too many people to the warning signs that increasingly indicated a man becoming a danger to himself and others.

Team Foxcatcher (2016) rates 3 of 5 stars.