The story surrounding the death of former Olympic champion Dave Schultz is one of the most intriguing in sports history. Netflix’s new original documentary, “Team Foxcatcher”, chronicles Dave Schultz’s tumultuous relationship with eccentric philanthropist John Du Pont , from 1989 until the multi-millionaire murdered him in 1996. The film focuses on Du Pont’s decision to donate large sums of money to USA Wrestling and to establish a state-of-the-art wrestling facility headed by Dave Schultz, on his sprawling Pennsylvania estate.
In 2014, the story of Dave Schultz reentered the spotlight with the Hollywood blockbuster adaptation of his life “Foxcatcher”, which starred Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum. The Hollywood movie focused primarily on the relationship between Dave Schultz, his brother Mark and John Du Pont, but that movie was largely historically inaccurate. Jon Greenhalgh, who MMA fans should recognize from the documentary “Smashing Machine”, took the helm on this new documentary and provided a historically accurate and at times disturbing snapshot of the life and death of Dave Schultz.
Much-like his previous work on the portrayal of Mark Kerr in Smashing Machine, where he acted as producer, Greenhalgh provides an unfiltered look at the final years of Schultz life and frames it through the eyes of those who knew him best. Through numerous interviews with Schultz’s, wife, kids and team mates we are shown the breakdown of Du Pont and the opportunities Schultz had to flee the Foxcatcher ranch.
Greenhalgh’s movie is among the best sports documentaries I have ever watched and as I watched it I felt like I got to feel the atmosphere inside Team Foxcatcher, I was drawn towards Schultz’s loving nature and felt empathy towards Du Pont, who was clearly mentally vulnerable. While this documentary is at times uncomfortable to watch, it provides a great representation of one of the darkest days in wrestling’s storied history.
Team Foxcatcher is available to stream on-demand on Netflix.