The Whale - Movie Review

Intro

The whales directed by Darren Aronofsky Stars Brendan Fraser was written by Samuel D Hunter who wrote the play this film is based off of he's credited for writing the film I don't know if he actually wrote a new screenplay for the film or if Aronofsky just took the script and was like yeah that works this is a script for our movie The Script for the play because there are clips on YouTube of scenes from the play and I'm like that is verbatim the film.

Synopsis

The film's about a man named Charlie who internet says the character is 600 pounds I don't know if they actually give weight in the film point is he's given a very Grim prognosis by his friend who's a nurse so we decide to try to reconnect with his estranged daughter played by Sadie Sink which it doesn't surprise me that Darren Aronofsky took this on you look at "The wrestler movie" is about an estranged father and daughter and then the estranged father tries to reconnect with his daughter after he's given a very serious medical prognosis.

The whale is about an estranged father and daughter and the father tries to reconnect with the daughter after he's given a very serious medical prognosis let's get it out of the way first let's just do it let's talk about Brandon Fraser because we heard he crushes it in this film we heard he is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination I do slightly disagree I think he's a shoo-in for an Oscar win.

Performances

You can say that about Darren Aronofsky films, in general, the dude knows how to pull performances in every one of his films like Noah's the least Aronofsky film of all of them so if you want to leave that one out sure but you look at every other film he's ever done there's a performance in each of those films where you're like that's incredible if I were in Vegas I I'd put my bets on Brendan Fraser winning for all you good folks who lost money on that Patty the Baddie fight here's your Mulligan don't take my word for it I'm not giving you gambling advice don't do that don't take that, don't listen to me I'm just saying I would make that bet fair in Vegas can you bet on the Oscars in Vegas he is incredible in this film if you had an actor who did less than the work he does the film really wouldn't work as well as.

The Cast

The cast is very small one main actor Brendan Fraser for supporting actors and that's it five supporting actors including Dan the pizza guy but I'm telling you it's a very intimate film and one of the things that help is the fact that you never see the fat suit makeup when you're seeing Brendan Fraser's character I've seen that on TV other movies you see the fat suit you see the makeup it just kind of takes you out of it that's another Oscar this film might be up for best makeup because it was an incredible job well done and seeing Brendan Fraser give us a performance like this is something special maybe 20 years ago or so he wasn't in the place to pull from that much pain but I see his talent.

Berry Gold

His talent is like a treasure like Berry gold and imagine, someone panning for gold and they get a few nuggets and they're like oh great that's enough looks like it's tapped but then two feet down or 20 years later however you want to see it there's this huge gold deposit the size of Fort Knox that's Brandon Fraser's Talent we didn't know it was there we thought we'd seen it all we thought we'd gotten it all he had much more to give now the film.

The Tone

In terms of tone, is very.. man! um dark yes but the clusterphobic as well it makes sense that it's based off of a play because you're hanging out with this guy in his living room for 99% of the film you look at cost effective stage plays they usually have that one location that the story takes place in so your watches you're like oh yeah this is totally based off of a stage play and that intimate if not claustrophobic feeling is aided by the 4x3 aspect ratio presentation now this film is decidedly Darren Aronofsky and for for my part that excites me it's like Darren Aronofsky, Quentin Tarantino Christopher Nolan, James Cameron these are all directors that when they come out with something new it feels like an event to me I can only describe it as like it's game day and your favorite team is playing you just have to watch it right now you don't want to wait for TiVo you don't want to record it watch it later you need to watch it right now people still record stuff or is it just on demand now is that what it's called whatever you can't wait to pop in the VHS and watch it later after you adjust the tracking there I said it.

This is not for Everybody

Also, this being a Darren Aronofsky film I can say this phrase this is not for everybody and I'll be right I can say that about every Aronofsky film before and every Darren Aronofsky film he does from now until the end of his career until he retires now, this film is not going to be for everybody I've already seen chatter online where some people find it problematic but I myself I found something very special in here.

The real magic

I found a very heartfelt story about pain, loss, human connection, and family connection, everybody in this film has at least a moment where they just come across as a little rough around the edges some more than others even the super likable people have a couple of moments of dialogue where it's like you're kind of being high and mighty right now but the film also gives context to pain so you see both sides of it you see how they are you see why they are the way they are that's the real magic right there that's the mythical element because that's a luxury we are rarely afforded in life with the people we actually interact with but everyone in this film is dealing with something because everyone in life always is that's just life I feel like this is one of those films you're going to be in one of two camps and that's it it's either uncomfortably unenjoyable or you're gonna find something special with it.

Something Special

I think there's a lot of room between for some I feel like Brandon Fraser's performance might be the reason to go see it even if you don't generally enjoy the film but that's absolutely fair for some folks out there a Powerhouse performance is enough but honestly, it's not just Brendan Fraser I mean what he gives us is truly something special absolutely but Hong Chow in the movie has a couple of scenes where she is bringing it I feel like she's in the conversation for the Oscar as well or should be this is a film with layers and that's something special when I come out of the movie theaters usually you watch a movie and well that's what the movie is and that's what you take home and I word vomit on the internet and there you are.

Conclusion

This is a film I feel like I can peel back over time and enjoy the process of doing so so I myself buy all of Darren Aronofsky's films I say that because yes I feel this film is worth watching and worth buying on Blu-ray like I'm the guy I I can watch "Requiem for a Dream" every Friday.

All right so "The whale have you seen what did you think about it what's your favorite Darren Aronofsky film whatever you think comment below and let me know.