Thanksgiving weekend is a big time of year for film releases and viewing; as such, MPR News Arts Reporter and Cube Critic Euan Kerr joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about Foxcatcher, a new film starring Steve Carrell. "This is not a comedy," Euan explains. "This is one of the creepiest films that you're likely to see this year."

This is the latest film from Bennett Miller, the director who made Capote and Moneyball. Based on actual events, Foxcatcher centers on John DuPont (Carrell), the heir to the DuPont Chemical fortune. In the 1980s, DuPont became obsessed with wresting, going so far as to build an Olympic training facility on his Foxcatcher estate. DuPont brings in a bunch of wrestlers, including Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), a talented but socially awkward wrestler. DuPont pledges his commitment to Schultz's success, "staring a series of fairly awful events," Euan says. When Mark's brother Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) gets involved in the training, things go from bad to worse.

Steve Carrell is unrecognizable playing John DuPoint — he's made up with a prosthetic nose and altered teeth. Far removed from some of his comic characters, Carrell plays a patrician megalomaniac, yet director Bennett wanted to make sure DuPont was not portrayed as a monster but as a man with deep flaws.

While the film is creepy, it also raises thoughtful questions about the social contracts often struck between those who have money and those who have talents in specific areas, raising the question about who benefits from such patronage. Foxcatcher also explores issues of power and to what lengths people will go to be successful. "We will hear a lot about it on Oscar night," Euan speculates.

Foxcatcher is rated R and is playing at the Landmark Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis.

Related

• Foxcatcher - official site