riddhimanroy

Under the helm of the visionary director- Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher serves as a classic storytelling masterpiece as it scrutinizes the human psyche's craving for success and the unbearable burden of anxiety that comes with it. This electrically captivating drama nets the audience's minds from the first scene and puts our hearts on a chokehold until the very last. The story reaches its climax when we least expect it to, leaving us emotionally shaken from the cathartic release of the pounding thematic conflict. Pertaining to the story, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman have crafted a near perfect screenplay, tracing the downfall of all the central characters of the film- a rare creative choice in cinema.

The year is 1987, three years after 1984 Olympics which won Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) the gold in wrestling. But after being overshadowed nearly forever by the success of his elder brother- Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo), Mark craves for recognition from the society- having been previously 'unrecognized'. He somehow makes ends meet and lives all alone.

Du Pont (Steve Carrel), an aristocratic multi millionaire whose sole dream is to draw glory to his training company- 'Foxcatcher', persuades Mark to join in as an official trainer for an elite squad of the US national wrestling team.

Widely celebrated as a comedy icon, Steve Carrel's nerve racking performance as this dark role establishes his creative identity as a finesse versatile actor in Hollywood. So does Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum. They both delve into their varied character moments in the script and flesh out philosophical conflict through authentic and powerful emotions that resonate with the audience.

Mark's hunger for fame and respect, not the love for the sport, motivates him to leave his brother behind and join Foxcatcher.

But Du Pont often desperately seeks temporary refuge behind his own wealthy aristocratic façade as a means of escapism from his failures at establishing himself as a respectable figure in the eyes of others around, especially his mother (Vanessa Redgrave). This mannerism plunges him into a downward spiral of desire to succeed. His mother stomps down on his swirling ego by declaring that she does not want her son to get "low" and labels wrestling as a "low sport". Consequently, being a fan of it, Du Pont feels passionately stirred at being insulted at. But being blinded by his own unhealthy obsession for power, he fails to recognize the truth in her wisdom- the fact that he has actually gotten way too low in the pursuit of glory.

Du Pont's character casts a lasting impression on our minds, owing to the precarious grin donned by Carrel during the awkward moments of the film. His grin comes off as a careful composite patchwork of anxiety, annoyance and arrogance.

The premise of this film is built upon the physically aggressive sport of wrestling, which is a precise metaphor to the psychological tussle in the minds of both Mark and Du Pont- as the two men grapple for fame and glory.

Mark and Du Pont's common goal of fame in life ties them together in a friendship that yields advantageous to both their desires. However, as the days fly by, their individual struggles to establish societal dominance tear their duo apart very soon, throwing Mark into a dark lonely corner of his own mind. This leads to the arrival of Dave on the farm as the new trainer.

Being a former Olympic gold medalist, Dave's coaching skills are unrivalled by Du Pont's, who in fact is just a sport fan. Feeling outgunned by Dave's expertise, Du Pont actively pursues his goal of proclaiming himself as the head coach for the entire Foxcatcher team. He senses a pressing and urgent need to be hailed as a father figure to them. Dave's presence on the wrestling squad also serves as the perfect emotional backbone for a struggling and unstable Mark to lean on. But his new popularity amongst the other trainees silently infuriates Du Pont- compelling him do the unthinkable in the film's jaw dropping climax.

The vivid imagery and visual storytelling implemented in this film clearly establishes it as one of Miller's best works till date.

American Sniper (2014) is an amazing film, wonderfully adapted by screenwriter Jason Hall from the autobiography of Chris Kyle- a legendary US SEAL sniper who served in Iraq post-9/11. It totally deserves the Oscar win for Best Sound Editing and multiple other nominations in 2015. It triumphantly grossed over $540mn worldwide. This film clearly showcases Clint Eastwood's talent as an extraordinary director, outside of his Western genre. Also Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller's performance during the dialogue-less crucial parts of this film is simply outstanding, they present their characters to us in such a believable way.

At the beginning of the film, Chris Kyle's father talks of three kinds of personalities children might grow to adopt in this world- (1) the ones who commit a societal injustice, like Wolves (2) the ones who never speak out against it fearing retaliation, like Sheep (3) the ones who sacrifice and boldly fight for those who can't fight for themselves, like Sheepdogs. Quick glance, and we will always find ourselves picking the third as the best of them all. And we think we are justified in doing so- but real life grows out to be more complicated than what we might think. This is exactly what this incredible true story delves into.

On the surface, the story plays out simply as a relentless patriotic soldier who is trying hard to fight a war in a foreign land to bring terrorists to justice. Despite the imminent risks involved, he is willing to sacrifice anything for the honor and glory of his country and to rescue his fellow soldiers. He doesn't care if this costs him in his personal life. This seems like a pretty noble pursuit. It earns him a military title- "LEGEND" along with loads of fame from his other colleagues. He even manages to rescue many dying soldiers on his way and reunites them with their loved ones. In short- he becomes a prized asset to the US army, a symbol of courage and hope amidst the devastating war.

But as the story proceeds, the audience is made to realize the dark impact the war's unavoidable bloodshed has on Chris' soul and how it gradually affects his personality, subconsciously. This is shown by cleverly cross-cutting between his wars in Iraq and his family life back home, where his wife repeatedly persuades him to live the simple life of a family man. But deep down he hesitates letting go of his 'savior-mentality' and creates reasons to justify his own actions to himself. He starts suffering from hypertension, which adversely impacts his temper and sabotages his personal relationships. The war's trauma prevents him from feeling the joy of being around his own wife and kids as he should.

As Chris is pushed to his emotional breaking point towards the end of the film, we're put to a very deep personal conflict- "honor & glory" vs "family & love". And the film's ending scenes justifiably answer this strong dilemma by transforming Chris' character, and teaches us to value that which is actually important in life.

Last, but not the least, cinematographer Tom Stern films the sniper-shooting scenes marvelously. It draws us into Chris' mind as he emotionally wrestles with the tough choices on battlefield that question his humanity and his loyalty to America. The exceptional score that plays along, emphasizes on these pivotal story beats making us live through his pursuit.

This is a clear masterpiece on many levels.

The Founder (2016) is an exquisite biographical drama film based on the true story of the American businessperson- Ray Kroc, the one who started the world's most renowned fast food chain: McDonald's. With a flawless screenplay crafted by Robert Siegel and under the powerful creative director- John Lee Hancock, this movie stands out as one of its kind. Being an expert in this genre, Hancock delivers his exact vision into every scene creating a profound impact. The film premiered at ArcLight Hollywood earning well deserved critical acclaim that also heavily lauded Michael Keaton's authentic performance as Ray Kroc.

The story wonderfully depicts the events that occur in his life that shape the course of his career ahead as he rises from a door-to-door salesman to become the owner of McDonald's. Thrown into complex situational dilemmas, Ray is compelled to take decisions that have heavy long lasting impacts both on his job and in his personal life. Unable to suppress his extraordinary ambition and passion for the business, he tirelessly chases his dream of expanding McDonald's from a small neighborhood restaurant in San Bernardino into a nation wide franchise.

Ray's inspiring driving force is made clear in the beginning of the movie by a playing record that recites the nobility of persistence and the value of hard work.

His dedication starts to pay-off when he is credited with enormous fame in the Mid-West and expands horizons to the East Coast. The ever growing business not only profits in millions of dollars, but also multiplies job opportunities for people by manifold. Overnight, his success takes America by storm and the whole country starts to look up to him as an inspirational icon.

However this hungry pursuit of his goal, takes a gradual heavy toll on his ethical self. It heartlessly tears down his relationship with his own wife and his trusting friendship with the original founder brothers of McDonald's. The new paths he voluntarily charters to expand his restaurant business even directly contradict the core humane values on which McDonald's was originally built. But none of this casts a genuine impact on his life, which has now come to be solely defined by his financial ambitions. Ray refuses to stop at anything until he fulfills his life-long dream.

Ironically, though at times his stubborn motives seem to be selfish, it ends up rescuing the firm from billion dollar losses and saves the jobs of thousands of hard working employees.

As the film plays to a close, Ray's sheer persistence pushes his company through several tough and uncertain years, ultimately successfully establishing itself as a global food chain. This mannerism of his proved to be an asset for his huge company, but it also came at the cost of economically devastating the lives of a few others. On the outside, this easily spells out as a bright success story of hard work and determination over fear. But it also revolves around a much darker internal theme, that we don't fully realize until the bitter-sweet ending when Ray reflects back on his life to prepare for a press interview.

John Schwartzman's cinematography creates a deeper effect in our minds by making us feel the revealing story beats along with the characters themselves. Also the intentional use of brighter color tones of certain scenes is done to synchronize with the iconic vibrant colors of McDonald's. Laura Dern, Nick Offerman, John Lynch, Linda Cardellini and the rest of the talented cast play out their supporting roles just as perfectly.

This film accurately establishes Ray both as a triumphant human being and as a selfish business tycoon, leaving the rest to the audience's judgement. A definite parallelism between the lives of Ray Kroc and Mark Zuckerberg (in 2010 film Social Network) goes unnoticed. And as the end credits roll over, we are left to ponder on the price of extraordinary success and its actual worth in our modern society.