19 Sep TIFF REVIEW – ‘The Whale’ provides the right vehicle for Brendan Fraser to showcase his staggeringly impressive dramatic chops

Hollywood loves a good comeback; few people deserve one more than Brendan Fraser. While it’s true Fraser was never a mega movie star in the same realm as your Brad Pitts or Tom Cruises, he was a consistent staple of late 90s and early 00s cinema in films like The Mummy, Gods and Monsters, and the wildly underrated Blast From the Past. His disappearance from the limelight due to mental and physical health issues and an industry that seemingly turned its back on him was deeply disappointing. With his first major film role in well over a decade, Fraser delivers his greatest performance thus far and one likely to see him waltz away with an Academy Award for Best Actor.

While the stagey, melodramatic The Whale is far from a perfect film, it provides the right vehicle for Fraser to showcase his staggeringly impressive dramatic chops in a shattering turn that’s one of the finest performances of the year. Maybe even the finest. It’s a masterful acting showcase where the strength of Fraser’s incredible work thankfully rises above narrative foibles, lazy staging, and overwrought dialogue to deliver a staggeringly empathetic character who will completely break your heart. The Brenaissance is happening and it’s about damn time.

Fraser plays Charlie, a morbidly obese and painfully reclusive gay English professor who earns a living by teaching a college course via Zoom. To hide his potentially offputting appearance from his students, Charlie pretends the camera on his laptop is broken, allowing him to cling to the anonymity that envelopes his life. Drowning in depression after the recent suicide of his partner, Alan, Charlie now weighs in at more than 600 pounds and only leaves the couch to retrieve pizza deliveries, go to the bathroom, and crash out in bed; all processes made extremely difficult by his size.

Seemingly the only person keeping Charlie alive is Liz (a phenomenal Hong Chau), his best friend and beleaguered caretaker who regularly visits with fresh supplies and to check his rapidly declining health. While Liz begs Charlie to visit a hospital to receive treatment for his fatally-high blood pressure and crippling breathing issues, he seems resolute that his days are numbered. Sensing the end is nigh, Charlie attempts to make amends with his estranged teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), who only begrudgingly agrees to spend time with her father when he offers to pay for her time.

Adapted for the screen by Samuel D. Hunter from his 2012 play of the same name, The Whale rarely feels like a motion picture per se. Even with someone as usually theatrical as Darren Aronofsky behind the director’s chair, it’s little more than a filmed play. That’s not inherently a bad thing. Charlie is trapped inside his apartment, thus Aronofsky confines his audience to the same environment. We’re stuck in this claustrophobic state for 117 minutes and it’s clear that’s entirely how Aronofsky desires it. Added by tight cinematography from Matthew Libatique, the director wants your focus solely on Charlie and Fraser’s sensational performance, which, let’s be honest, is likely all you’re here to see.

If not for Fraser’s efforts, very little about The Whale would work. What he achieves here is simply astonishing. It’s a career-defining performance you won’t be able to shake. Any actor could easily become lost amongst the prosthetics and padded suit required to transform into Charlie. Even Tom Hanks struggled with such a task a few months ago in Elvis. But Fraser’s wildly expressive blue eyes and his deft ability to capture Charlie’s tortured spirit allow his performance to feel completely transcendent. A gentle giant with a heart of gold, Charlie is the sweetest damn thing you’ll see on screen this year, even if his actions can be frustrating at times.

Fraser finds the vulnerability and humanity in this character to create something utterly transfixing. It’s a pure performance that never once feels anything but authentic. Charlie is a man drowning in self-loathing and sorrow. Aronofsky and Fraser take their time to reveal the trauma that’s led Charlie to this point and the result is nothing short of devastating. It’s a haunting performance where Fraser taps into Charlie’s pain so succinctly that it’s no longer “acting.” He’s intimately living and breathing this character to craft something that’s sublimely effective. It’s hard to imagine anyone else winning Best Actor this year. The race feels over before it’s even begun.

There have been some who’ve suggested this film and Fraser’s portrayal borders on fatphobic. For my money as a fairly robust man myself, it never feels like Aronofsky is judging or vilifying Charlie for his weight problems. Nor does he expect his audience to look down on his protagonist. It’s not a condemnation of obesity. It’s a sympathetic exploration of how a broken soul can get to this point. This is not a man who is in this state merely from poor food choices. Binge-eating is the outlet for his pain. Charlie’s stubborn refusal to deal with the death of his partner fuels this cycle of depression-induced eating that’s pushing him closer to death every day.

That being said, Hunter’s screenplay has a tendency to fall into farcical melodrama and hokey dialogue that may have worked well on the stage but feels too contrived on screen. There’s a stiltedness to practically every scene that’s hard to ignore. While Fraser is pulling you in with his warmth and compassion, the screenplay seemingly pushes an audience back, creating an often conflating experience that never quite gels properly. Extended monologues and arguments can feel too staged, robbing the final product of its intended authenticity. Thankfully, Fraser and his co-stars rise above it all.

In yet another performance that proves she’s an underrated talent on the verge of long-overdue recognition, Chau is simply marvellous as Charlie’s exhausted companion. Chau brings a compelling mix of warm empathy and frustrated fury to Liz that’s captivating to watch. She’s the audience’s entry point into Charlie’s world and we’re right there with her, feeling every inch of concern, frustration, and fear at watching her best friend avowedly give up on life. Chau deserves to receive equal awards notices as Fraser. Sink also brings plenty of white-hot rage and resentment to her tempestuous teenage character. It’s just a shame that’s all there really is to Ellie. It’s not that her anger isn’t warranted. There’s just no depth or introspection to it, leaving her performance to start at an 11 and have nowhere else to go.

Despite its flaws, The Whale is an overwhelmingly emotional experience that will likely leave you in a mess of tears. Fraser’s mesmerising performance is worth the price of admission alone. It seems highly likely he’s going to ride this wave of love all the way to the stage at the Academy Awards. Lord knows he deserves this moment and not just because of the painful path he’s taken to return to the spotlight. This is a performance for the ages and one that will dance in your brain for days and weeks to come. What an absolute gift he’s delivered and may there be many more to come.

Distributor: A24 / Madman Films
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Producers: Jeremy Dawson, Ari Handel, Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Samuel D. Hunter
Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Production Design: Mark Friedberg, Robert Pyzocha
Costume Design: Danny Glicker
Music: Rob Simonsen
Editor: Andrew Weisblum
Running Time: 117 minutes
Release Date: 9th December 2022 (US), 2nd February 2023 (Australia)