The Whale Review

Based on a play by Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale sees Darren Aronofsky team up with A24 for an intimate drama.

Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is a morbidly obese English lecturer who teaches college level courses online. He is grieving for his boyfriend, Alan and his only friend is Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse and Alan’s sister. When Charlie finds out he only has a week to live he tries to make amends with his teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink).

Darren Aronofsky has had an interesting career as a director and made some divertive films. His filmography includes Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan and mother! He has dabbled with big, ambitious films like The Fountain and Noah. With The Whale Aronofsky he turned to making a smaller scale drama.

The Whale was made on a modest budget of $3 million and it was set in and around Charlie’s apartment. It was tight and claustrophobic, made more evident by the 4:3 aspect ratio. Hunter adapted his play for the screen. However, with all the talent involved, The Whale couldn’t get beyond its theatrical origins.

Aronofsky is a talented director, I have enjoyed many of his films, and Matthew Libatique is a renowned cinematographer. Yet they couldn’t get over the tight, restrictive setting. It felt more like a TV film than a theatrical release. The performances also had a stagey flavour to them. Many of the characters had emotional monologues that gave the film a melodramatic edge. This melodrama was spiced up by Ron Simonsen’s manipulative music.

The Whale can be compared to The Wrestler. Both were grounded, character driven and simpler films and have similar stories where a father has a health scare and tries to make amends with their estranged daughters. The Wrestler was made as a gritty working-class drama, and The Whale was a full melodrama, yet still had a grim look because of the tight apartment setting. There were differences between the father-and-daughter relationships. In The Wrestler the daughter was an adult, whilst in The Whale Ellie was a high school student. The other difference was Ellie was the spawn of Satan who did the most horrific things in the film but Charlie didn’t see it because of the familial bond, guilt for leaving her, and his ability to see the best in everyone.

Aronofsky has a reputation for getting great performances out of his actors. Ellen Burstyn won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Requiem for a Dream, and Natalie Portman received a Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan. The most remarkable achievement was Mickey Rourke winning a Best Actor Oscar for The Wrestler which helped resurrect his career. The Whale has earned awards recognition, especially Fraser who was caked in Oscar-nominated make-up.

The acting was The Whale’s best feature. The actors had a lot to sink their teeth into because of their relationships and interactions. Fraser was still suffering from grief and his coping mechanism was to overeat, yet it was going to kill him. He had a kind hear but he never processed his issues in a healthy manner.

Hong Chau has earned herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination and combined with her performance in The Menu she has had a great one-two punch. Chau’s Liz was shown to be caring and protective towards Charlie since he was the last connection to her brother. She could see Ellie and Thomas (Ty Simpkins) were bad for Charlie, but she was an enabler since she got Charlie fast food. Liz also had her own baggage since she was resentful towards the religious sect she grew up in which added to her hostility towards Thomas.

The other three major actors were Sink, Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. All three were great actors and they all gave excellent performances. Morton only appeared for one scene but she did make an impression as Charlie’s ex-wife and sees him for the first time in years. Whilst Ellie was repulsive, Sink was great at portraying this vile person.

The Whale has been accused of being fatphobic. However, some of these criticisms were unfair. Charlie was a shown/was shown to be a decent man who had bad lot in life. Some people were horrified when they saw Charlie, but Charlie had a psychological reason for weight issues. The film wasn’t shaming him, they weren’t putting a message that he needed to cut down on the fast food and go to the gym.

The Whale was a great acting showcase and Fraser deserves a comeback, yet it was wasn’t able to overcome it’s melodramatic theatrical roots.