The Whale – Review
117 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio if we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below and Ryan’s review HERE. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
A reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
By now, of course, you’re aware of The Whale and how it is supposedly Brendan Fraser’s “comeback” movie and whatnot. You’re also likely aware that some people out there have issues with the film for multiple reasons, including the idea that it’s fat-shaming, or gay-bashing, or any other reason you can pluck out of the aether.
I’d like to focus on the movie as a movie, if that’s okay with you?
As Charlie repeatedly admonishes his students: “write something honest,” so let’s do that.
First, director Darren Aronofsky is one of those directors whose style can eaily put off an audience. He made The Fountain, Black Swan, and Mother!, FFS, so any movie of his might not be the easiest thing to watch.
Second, there is the matter that Fraser’s character, Charlie, is, in fact, fat. Really fat. Like, not “that can’t happen” fat, because we have entire TV shows devoted to 600 pound people, but rather, “how did he get this way?” fat.
And that, my friends, is what The Whale is about; it’s not about shaming Charlie for being fat, but rather exploring why he is so fat that he knows he’s killing himself.
He wants to die.
He specifically wants to die by eating too much.
Leaving Las Vegas won Nicolas Cage an Oscar for playing an alcoholic who knew he wanted to drink himself to death.
Same thing here.
Adding to The Whale, however, are the complications presented by Charlie’s friend and caregiver (and enabler), Liz (whose importance is clarified as the movie moves along), and his estranged daughter, Ellie.
This is not a movie about a dying fat person. It’s a movie about a person, who happens to be fat, who is dying.
Charlie’s wieght is not something to shame, but rather is a symptom of the shame he feels about himself. That shame (whether justified or not) is explained as we movie through the story, but it is not tied to his weight in any manner except as the outward sign of it.
Now, Brendan Fraser does give a ridiculously good performance here. Acting through that fat-suit can not have been easy, but his eyes convey so much pain and longing that it just breaks your heart. Kudoes to him. The accolades are well deserved.
Sadie Sink, fresh off season 4 of Stranger Things, also shines as Ellie, Charlie’s daughter. Her inner turmoil manifests not as overeating, but as acting-out against any one or any thing which might make her care more than she might want to. She immediately puts any new person in her orbit on the defensive, giving them no opportunity to pierce her defenses. Their fight is stopped before it ever begins.
Only Charlie, who refuses to stop, to concede to her hostility, continues to batter her defenses until the very end.
Liz is a guilty friend, one who loves Charlie for who he is, but is unable to stop him from destroying himself, and so, from love, enables his self-punishment. There is perhaps a tinge of feeling as though Charlie deserves to die, given their history, but I think she acts more from love than anger.
Throw in Samantha Morton as Charlie’s ex and Ty Simpkins as a troubled missionary, and that’s a cast not to be sneezed at.
As a film set singularly in Charlie’s apartment, the camerawork is claustrophobic and static, given Charlie’s limitations, but I did feel (and I might be wrong) that the camera became a bit more free flowing once he moved from a walker to a wheelchair. Again, that might just be my perception.
Overall, the film is a very conventional feeling film, not like the three films I mentioned above, except for the final scene, which, while not being at The Fountain levels of “WTF?” does remind you that you’re in an Aronofsky film.
It’s a tough watch, but a worthwhile one, I think, to see some really high-quality performances and nuanced storytelling.
The Whale hits theaters on December 21 and stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Hong Chau, and Samantha Morton.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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