Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Wrestling With Review
RECEIVED Sat., Jan. 24, 2015
Dear Editor,
Regarding Steve Davis' 2½ star review of Foxcatcher: I vehemently take exception [Film Listings, Dec. 19]. It's a riveting, spellbinding movie. Wrestling as a sport could vanish and I wouldn't notice or care, but this movie (while topically about wrestling) wasn't about wrestling. It's about a moment in history when a neurotic, privileged psychopath ruined the career of one man and killed another. I don't understand for a moment Davis' contention that it's an "unsatisfying experience" that you "have no idea what to make of." It's distressing that he is a movie reviewer at such a hallowed institution as The Austin Chronicle and makes such statements. In all seriousness, has he ever watched a Robert Altman movie? If ever there was an auteur that made art that didn't explain itself to you, it would be him. Did the moral ambiguity of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing similarly leave him confused and unsatisfied? Life isn't about things being neatly tied up at the conclusion; it's usually a protracted and messy experience that can be good. And so, too, is Foxcatcher. To anyone on the fence about this movie thanks to Mr. Davis' review: Go see it. It's a solid 4-star movie.
Regarding Steve Davis' 2½ star review of Foxcatcher: I vehemently take exception [Film Listings, Dec. 19]. It's a riveting, spellbinding movie. Wrestling as a sport could vanish and I wouldn't notice or care, but this movie (while topically about wrestling) wasn't about wrestling. It's about a moment in history when a neurotic, privileged psychopath ruined the career of one man and killed another. I don't understand for a moment Davis' contention that it's an "unsatisfying experience" that you "have no idea what to make of." It's distressing that he is a movie reviewer at such a hallowed institution as The Austin Chronicle and makes such statements. In all seriousness, has he ever watched a Robert Altman movie? If ever there was an auteur that made art that didn't explain itself to you, it would be him. Did the moral ambiguity of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing similarly leave him confused and unsatisfied? Life isn't about things being neatly tied up at the conclusion; it's usually a protracted and messy experience that can be good. And so, too, is Foxcatcher. To anyone on the fence about this movie thanks to Mr. Davis' review: Go see it. It's a solid 4-star movie.
David Sanborn
