The Whale is a story of heartbreak, lost faith, and mortality, headlined by the comeback performance from Brendan Fraser. Darren Aronofsky, best known for his off-the-wall and divisive work, brings the Mummy star back to the screen in what is essentially a filmed stage play. He pulls out even better performances from Fraser’s supporting cast, although his directorial choices get in the way of what could have been a thoughtful, meditative character study.
Fraser stars as Charlie, a 600-pound professor who has given himself a week to live after his nurse Liz (Hong Chau) tells him he has congestive heart failure. Charlie decides to use the time to reconnect with his daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink), who shows no interest in doing that. During the week, Thomas (Ty Simpkins), a religious missionary determined to convince Charlie to have faith in God. Over the course of the film, which is based on Samuel D. Hunter’s 2012 play of the same name, we learn that Charlie developed a binge-eating habit after his lover died.
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The majority of the film takes place inside Charlie’s apartment, a space that the audience needs to live in as well for 117 minutes. As if that was not claustrophobic enough, Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique chose to shoot the entire film in the square ratio. Characters’ close-ups make them feel epic in scale. Aronofsky may have felt this necessary because the material is stagey. However, there are plenty of great stage-to-film adaptations set in mostly small spaces that take full advantage of the breathing room a wide ratio can provide. The director also leans heavily on Rob Simonsen’s score to punctuate important moments, as if he doesn’t trust the audience to get everything from just the actors’ performances.
Those performances do well enough on their own. Fraser really is very good when the script calls for quieter moments. When Charlie asks someone for the first time if they find him “disgusting,” it’s heartbreaking and feels like we’re intruding on someone’s personal psyche. There are scenes where Aronofsky is trying to get him to act for the balcony though, pushing him to go one step further than he needs to. Fraser knows how to act, but Aronofsky clearly wanted to get those tears and screams because the Oscars are for the most acting, not the best acting.
While Fraser is getting all the attention, his co-stars are the ones who shine. Chau is excellent as Liz, who is also Charlie’s best friend. The nurse is the only person who genuinely cares about him, but she’s dismayed because he only cares to connect with a daughter who does not care. Sadie Sink, known for her work on Stranger Things, also gives an effective performance as Ellie, the frustrated teen who constantly reminds Charlie of his failures.ย
There are many things about Hunter’s script that are well-meaning. He seeks to explore how people can be truly terrible to one another if they give up on themselves. Charlie’s career as an English professor imbues him with a belief that writing and creativity can give off a better idea of a person than their physical appearance. Being honest with oneself about their situation and coming to terms with one’s own mortality is also in The Whale‘s DNA. There are so many ideas and themes flying around in this movie that it might have been better for Hunter and Aronofsky to focus on one particular thesis, which might be something Charlie would tell his students.
One of the better moments in The Whale comes later in the movie, when Ellie’s mother Mary, played by Samantha Morton, arrives. Morton and Fraser just sit and talk, reminiscing about their lives and mistakes. It’s just two actors playing a scene and the one moment where Aronofsky finally embraces the beauty that is simplicity. Charlie’s humanity, which he had so feared was unknowable to many others, is brought out when he meets someone who genuinely cares about the same person he does. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is not this. Aronofsky’s severe treatment of the material does not allow its themes naturally flow and hides what is otherwise a well-acted filmed play.
