10 “True” Movies That Glossed Over Major Controversies

7. Foxcatcher

The Lie: The film makes many changes to the timeline of the climactic murder. Unlike many of the films on this list, Foxcatcher is a deeply grim story. It followed reclusive millionaire John du Pont, played by an unrecognisable Steve Carell, and his attempts to put together an Olympic wrestling school on his family estate. Du Pont would ultimately shoot dead one of his star performers Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) in a bizarre fit of rage. In order to create the slow burning narrative of the film, director Bennett Miller compressed and altered the real historical events in a number of ways. Crucially, Dave and Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) never spent time together at the Foxcatcher ranch. Dave only became a permanent resident at the ranch six months after Mark left. By the time Du Pont shot Dave in 1996, the entrepreneur's interest in wrestling had begun to wane and Dave had made it clear that he was about to leave the ranch to take up a coaching position elsewhere. These factors may well have fed into the murder, but are totally ignored in the film, which places Mark at the centre of events.