THE WHALE

Saw it today. As many know, I struggle with Aronofsky and always have (much to the chagrin of the viewers), so as usual I was intrigued with this one, but also skeptical. But it was better than I thought it would be, for one reason, and one reason only: the acting. 

The material is hammy at best, not nearly as honest with itself as it thinks it is, and I think it's misguided as a character study, often placing emphasis on a tired redemptive arc that feels unnecessary and redundant at best. This character and this actor deserved far better. But this is a perfect example of just how much great acting can carry a film. Because as an experience in that sense, it was moving. Though as a piece of work, it's grading. 

I grew up in the Brendan Fraser renaissance. George of the Jungle, Bedazzled, The Mummy, you name it. I've seen them all dozens of times. Though I was never exactly a fan of his. Sure, his ability to portray a certain sense of innocence was charming, but comedically he was never really my speed. I longed for actors of bygone eras, even as a kid lol. 

Even in his more dramatic work, I never felt like he found his footing. But man...this is the role he was always born to play. This movie owes everything to this central performance and its supporting players. Any honesty or depth lacking in the writing, is here in Fraser's performance. I shed tears for his performance, and not for what he is saying, but how he says it. His gentility and melancholia is so vulnerable here that it borders on too sentimental. And yet it never crosses over. 

I often get annoyed lately at this trend of actors competing against a ton of makeup and prosthetics to portray a character. More often than not, it's clear that the makeup people do far more work at creating the authenticity than the actual actors, and rarely receive any of the credit for it publicly. But this is an instance where I felt the actors work was far superior to the prosthetics he wore (all 300 pounds of it), and in fact I think the prosthetics almost worked against him. It never felt realistic to me. But he was so believable that, I could give it a pass. 

These smaller pieces with tiny ensembles are a lot harder to stage than they might initially seem. And I'm not sure there's enough here direction-wise to assist the surface-y nature of the material. But I do think it is worth seeing for the performances. Especially Fraser's.