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Topic: Re: The Whale
Posted by: Joe Conneely
Date/Time: 04/02/23 15:56:00

With many festival awards and an Oscar Best Actor nomination, inevitably expectations are heightener for a film. Brendan Fraser as Charlie, an overweight gay and on-line English tutor in Idaho, who is on a mission to destroy himself by over-eating and ignoring medical attention, certainly delivers an acting tour de force of what life is like for such a person, laden with very authentic makeup prosthetics all over his body. Indeed, all the small cast involved deliver strong performances in this film adaptation of a stage play, which with its single apartment set and use of Academy screen ratio reinforces the claustrophobia of a solitary lifestyle spent gorging on junk foods.



The main problem seems to be as the story unfolds and the interconnection of the characters is slowly revealed, we end up with a script of caricatures e.g. the angry long abandoned daughter who Charlie wants to reconnect with; bitter ex-wife etc.. And to top it all every time there is a dramatic moment. the string soundtrack cranks up to ensure you are aware of it. Add to that mix endless references to the novel “Moby Dick” and a heavy dose of religious zeal across the film and this was for me a pretty depressing two hour film.

I am sure anybody who has seen a relative or close friend self-destruct from over indulging in whatever personal excess they have chosen will relate to the Charlie character. I just felt that for all the accolades about this film that I had read, I came away disappointed. Director Darren Aronofsky has with the same style of story done much better before, notably “The Wrestler” with Mickey Rourke.

Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Film Reviews 202301/01/23 20:16:00 Susan Kelly
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      Re:If you must start so early….03/01/23 16:56:00 Susan Kelly
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            Re:Re: The Whale04/02/23 18:16:00 Norman Redfern
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      Re:The Three Musketeers: D'artagnan (French with sun-titles)25/04/23 20:33:00 Sara Nathan
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