By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
CANNES, France (AP) --Featuring a startlingly dramatic turn from Steve Carell, Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher" premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival to largely rave reviews and early Oscar predictions.
"Foxcatcher" is based on the true story of Olympic gold medalist wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), who to step out from the shadow of his brother and fellow Olympian, Dave (Mark Ruffalo), moves in with a wealthy benefactor on his Pennsylvania estate. The interest from the millionaire, John du Pont, whom Carell plays with a prosthetic nose and a creepy stillness, develops into a tragic psychological drama.
"It was so far outside of his comfort zone," Miller said of Carell. "I've never seen Steve do anything that would give any material evidence that he could do this. We just chatted and I heard how he thought and was thinking about the character, and I had a vision for it working."
As the two pillars of the movie year, Cannes and the Academy Awards are often distinct epicenters. But they are often tenuously connected through the long Oscar campaigns. Cannes is where many Academy Awards hopefuls debut — it's where best-picture winner "The Artist" premiered in 2011.
While this year's festival has already seen several films that could become award season players — including Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" and Tommy Lee Jones' "The Homesman" — "Foxcatcher" premiered with larger expectations that it generally met. Miller's first two films — "Capote" and "Moneyball" — both received a bundle of Oscar nominations.
Anticipation for the film also increased after its release was postponed so that Miller could spend more time finishing it from last year's award season to this year's. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film November 14.
While the film boasts several fine performances (Tatum has never combined his physical presence with vulnerability better), Carell's dramatic turn is the most eye-catching.
(Director Miller continues to be handled by Smuggler for spots and branded content.)
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More