An Everyman's Movie Review: Foxcatcher

When I first saw the trailer of Foxcatcher I was instantly hooked. After Moneyball, I was in on director Bennett Miller, I was in on Steve Carell doing his best to win an Oscar, I was in on Channing Tatum trying to expand his range, and I was in on a stylish, creepy movie about a creepy fucking dude. I was so excited about this film, that I ranked it as my #2 most anticipated film of this fall season. In that column I wrote, "I actually can't imagine a scenario where Foxcatcher is bad 'per se' but I can envision a scenario where the film is just not as good as I am hyping it up to be."

As it turns out, Foxcatcher is bad. I mean really bad. It's not Troll 2 or Saving Christmas bad, but it is not a good movie. I could take a movie with great performances that's not very engaging or a movie in which I am self-aware enough to know that I don't like it because my expectations were set way too high (because at least then I can re-watch the film), but neither is the case with Foxcatcher. The film's main problem (among many) is that there is no conflict. For the vast majority of this movie, these characters just exist. They're there, and that's it. I could actually take that if Bennett Miller was properly setting mood and tone to help the audience feel uncomfortable surrounding a creepy situation, but that doesn't happen either. What's most infuriating about the story that's been chosen to be told is that natural conflict should arise. The whole reason this story deserves to be made into a movie is rife with conflict, yet that barely shines through.

Who Is Hollywood's Best Young Actor Right Now?

Who is the hottest young actor currently working in Hollywood right now? I don't mean in terms of looks, I mean in terms of power and prestige. Who can get the roles and the movies THEY want to have made? Who is the actor the studios want to hire in their big budget films? Which actor will America see the movie that their in solely because said actor is in that movie? I set out to find that answer.

I choose eight of the biggest and most talented young actors currently acting and making big movies right now: Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Chris Hemsworth. These are who I believe are the who's who of young actors right now. The real life Vinnie Chase from Entourage. These eight names were chosen solely by me and based on my own judgment. Of course I could have expanded this list further, but these eight names feels about right. The other actors I was thinking about were Chris Pine (Star Trek), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Henry Cavill (Man Of Steel), but they just don't feel like they belong with the others. I feel these eight are the cream of the crop.

The 2012 Jude Law Award

2004 was a monster year for Jude Law. He starred in or appeared in SIX films: Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow, I Heart Huckabees, Alfie, Closer, The Aviator, and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Plus, he was named People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" (which was a no brainer because that award always goes to the person who has the biggest and hottest year). 2004 was such a big year for Jude Law that at the 2004 Oscars, host Chris Rock joked, "Who is Jude Law? Why is he in every movie that I've seen for the past 4 years? He's in everything. Even in the movies he's not in, if you look at the credits he made cupcakes or something".

In the vein of Law's ginormous year, I want to honor him by crowning a Jude Law Award Winner every year to the actor or actress who had the biggest year. But before we crown a winner, let's look to see who the runners up were.

THE LIST OF TEN FIELD

Tom Hardy

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) This Means War

2) The Dark Knight Rises

3) Lawless

Bruce Willis

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) Moonrise Kingdom

2) The Expendables II

3) Looper

Jonah Hill

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) 21 Jump Street

2) The Watch

3) Django Unchained

Kristen Stewart

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) Snow White and the Hunstman

2) Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Part II)

3) On The Road

Taylor Kitsch

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) John Carter

2) Battleship

3) Savages

Jennifer Lawrence

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) The Hunger Games

2) The House At The End Of The Street

3) Silver Linings Playbook

Liam Neeson

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) The Grey

2) Wrath Of The Titans

3) Battleship

4) Taken 2

Anna Kendrick

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) What To Expect When You're Expecting

2) ParaNorman

3) End Of Watch

4) Pitch Perfect

Elizabeth Banks

NUMBER OF FILMS: 5

1) Man On A Ledge

2) The Hunger Games

3) What To Expect When You're Expecting

4) People Like Us

5) Pitch Perfect

Bryan Cranston

NUMBER OF FILMS: 6

1) Red Tails

2) John Carter

3) Rock of Ages

4) Madagascar III: Europe's Most Wanted

5) Total Recall

6) Argo

THE RUNNER UP

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) The Dark Knight Rises

2) Premium Rush

3) Looper

4) Lincoln

THE WINNER

Channing Tatum

NUMBER OF FILMS: 5

1) Haywire

2) The Vow

3) 21 Jump Street

4) Magic Mike

5) 10 Years

There have been actors who have starred in more films in 2012 than Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum, but there is no doubt that these two were the cream of the crop. No disrespect to Elizabeth Banks or Bryan Cranston, but they played bit parts in everything they were in and were never asked to carry a film in 2012. These two actors are in essentially everything so of course they are going to appear in the most films. However, nobody would proclaim that 2012 was the year of Elizabeth Bank or Bryan Cranston. This was the year of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum.

If JoGo and Tatum had made the same number of films then Gordon-Levitt would be my 2012 winner. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is my man-crush and I think he is the most talented young actor currently working in Hollywood. Gordon-Levitt starred in the best film (in my opinion) of 2012 [Looper], he stole every scene he was in in The Dark Knight Rises, he was great in the criminally underrated Premium Rush, and he was in America's consensus #1 film in 2012 [Lincoln].

However, 2012 was undoubtedly the year of Channing Tatum. He was the actor that received the more buzz, he was (rightfully) named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Of The Year, and his meteoric rise to prominence seems unprecedented. He starred in his classic, go-to Nicholas Sparks movie, he was allowed to be an action guy in Haywire, he managed to be funnier than Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street, and he managed to make ladies swoon in Magic Mike while also managed to make an incredibly dull movie somewhat entertaining through his charm, charisma, and general likeability. When people look back on 2012, they will undoubtedly say that this was the year of Channing Tatum. That 2012 Channing Tatum was easily like 2004's Jude Law.

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