Tatum, who may be better known for movies like Magic Mike and Step Up, has turned in lesser-known but excellent performances in movies like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. But as wrestler Mark Schultz, an Olympic gold medalist whose life has become lonely and bleak, he delivers his finest performance. He projects deep insecurity despite his successes, and Tatum even carries himself differently, both as an expression of Mark's desolation and his portrayal of a wrestler (Tatum also trained for months). Variety praised his turn, writing, "Tatum delivers what is easily the most emotionally complex performance of his career, hulking through much of the picture exuding rage, surliness and disappointment." The Atlantic was also impressed, saying, "Tatum, in particular, is a revelation as an emotionally fragile soul stuck in the body of a brute."
