11.3.23
The Whale isn’t as controversial as the noise surrounding it suggests. It boils down to being an effective but stagey family drama, with Brendan Fraser’s powerhouse performance taking centre stage. Despite there being more to admire in the film than simply Fraser’s portrayal of an obese and reclusive English teacher, such as the performances of the female cast, The Whale isn’t great and there are many better films within this subgenre.
Getting straight to the point, although Fraser’s performance is compelling and heartfelt, his character as a part of the narrative feels like a spectacle rather than a humanised character. I am sure it wasn’t the intention of Aronofsky to have the character come across this way, but I felt it near impossible to see the character of Charlie as anything but a contrived plot device; something to behold rather than someone to empathise with. The performance isn’t artificial, but the character of Charlie is an artifice, or a construction that I find so hard to look past. I was massively obese as a young person myself, so I don’t find it rude to say that. I just don’t think dramas where someone’s weight is a part of the plot, are very interesting.
On a different note, many of the film’s motifs such as Zoom lessons, webcams and Facebook comments all seem quickly outdated and out of the zeitgeist in 2023. And although the roles of all female actors are fantastic particularly Samantha Morton, they have to wrestle for screen time in lieu of the focus on Charlie. Perhaps The Whale is at its best when learning about Charlie’s tragic history through the interactions of the supporting cast, but those moments are not as developed as they could have been and I am curious to think if flashbacks with a frankly thinner Charlie and his family would have been worthwhile.
As an audience, we know Brendan Fraser’s backstory, so when watching The Whale I felt more interested in rooting for him and his Hollywood banishment rather than Charlie’s attempt at salvation. Paradoxically, this is the biggest strength as well as the biggest weakness of the film. So to echo what many others have said; the Fraser comeback is on. It’s just a shame it had to start like this.