"Ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist", slurs Foxcatcher's John du Pont, a beak full of cocaine dulling his faculties as he attempts to train "ungrateful ape" Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) into delivering a speech on his own brilliance. This is perhaps Foxcatcher's greatest scene, and the one that most conveniently sums up Steve Carell's grotesque du Pont, a pathetic, insecure rich kid high on his own sense of grandiosity. Foxcatcher isn't a film of one great performance - it actually has three, with Tatum and Mark Ruffalo giving all they can as the troubled wrestling team of Schultz and Schultz. But Steve Carell can't help but steal the film in a turn that has to be showy, that by necessity has to be so oddball you can't quite take your eyes off it. You'll want to - Carell is not just physically monstrous here, puffy, dead-eyed and plastered with a constant disconcerting sneer, but so odious in character you'll wonder whether you're ever going to be able to watch him in a comedy again. Put him down as another comedian with the skills to put most full-time dramatic actors to shame.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
