User reviews

Let me start by saying I've been a fan of Fraser since seeing Encino Man as a kid and this guy will always be one of my favorites. To see him somehow thrown out of Hollywood/not casted for the most part for the past decade was very frustrating for me. It was about time someone gave him another chance which Aronofsky and A24 did and it proved successful mainly because of Brendan's dedicated and emotional performance.

The film itself is quite less pretentious and more honest than most of A24 films to date . It also has more of a down to earth straight forward delivery than most of Aronofsky's perplexing work. Honestly with the subject matter it needed to be and relies mostly on pure emotion and struggle which is shown masterfully by Fraser.

There have been a lot of preconceived outraged overreactions and ridiculous assumptions based on the fact that Fraser is wearing a fat suit/getting prosthetics to appear as a morbidly obese person. I don't see why this is a problem mainly due to the fact this is a film made to entertain and to do so sometimes you wear things or makeup to alter looks. It would be difficult to cast a real life person off the street and have them pour their real emotions out on screen. I don't see that being easy.

Also this is so much deeper than the looks of Fraser in the film and that's the true intention and power of this piece. People must see this raw and moving performance from Brendan and it's sure to cause a stir. This is the due Renaissance and comeback for Mr. Fraser. Oscar should be coming his way.

I think there are some good reasons to criticize this film. It's a fairly stage bound adaptation of a play. That's not always a bad thing. In many cases, staging a film very similarly to the way the play was staged accentuates what works about the play. I don't think it really does here, and the film's repetitive structures leads to some dead patches. There's also a powerfully melodramatic tone to this film that I'm frankly just a bit unsure of.

I also think there are extremely bad reasons to criticize the film, and these reasons are starting to emerge as the consensus among critics in the mainstream media. This isn't a film about a very fat man. It's a film about someone with an extremely destructive eating addiction caused by grief and regret and the complete lack of self-worth that accompanies those feelings sometimes. There have been films that deal with drugs, alcohol, gambling and sex, but apparently when it comes to food, the only thing that this film can be doing is inviting you to gawk at the big fat guy. It's a very strange conclusion to reach that I speculate is generated by coming into the film dead set on the idea that this is all it can be doing.

I did not come away from this film with any notion that I was supposed to see Frasier as anything less than a human being deserving of our deepest empathy. The film parades in some shocking imagery, especially up front, but I found that once I confronted it, my initial reaction subsided and I was seeing Frasier for who he was. I think it's an extraordinary double-standard that people can watch Nicolas Cage indulge in ridiculous and cartoonish bouts of binge drinking in "Leaving Las Vegas" and declare brilliance, but balk at Frasier's fits of VERY CLEARLY self-annihilating eating in this film and think we are only supposed to be processing it as some kind of freak show.

I don't think this is an incredible film, and I wouldn't place it among Aronofsky's best. I do think Frasier's performance is brilliant, and the film is a flawed, but often marvelous character piece about a kind of addiction we seldom confront.

I recomend this movie and authorize it as factual from my life standpoint. The doctors told me I only had 5 to 10 years left in me. It was suggested that Bariatric surgury is the only way things will change. Since December 27th, 2022, 6 months later, I am 220lbs. I have had diabetes. I no longer have diabetes since I changed my diet. I never knew how disgusting I was or how much food I ate in one day because the chemicals in the High Fructose Corn Syrup that soda contained were causing my addiction to drinking more soda. My house was filled with garbage on the ground, and I couldn't even wipe myself or turn around; I couldn't even fit in the car that well to drive.

I only drove my car to the doctor and had the groceries delivered. Watching these academy award winners on the big screen affected me emotionally because it reflected my life. It destroys me, showing my life from a different perspective. This is as real as it gets people; this exists, and this story has no fiction in it. My issues were PTSD, X's wife, and her taking my children away. My children are older now, and we are getting reconnected. I do not blame anyone else for my problems, only me. I cried when the Xwife wanted to hear his heart and lungs; that scene hit home and affected me in many ways. What about my daughter? Well, it's not been easy, she doesn't talk much to me, and I am only in her life when she needs something; like Fraiser, I saved up all the money for her.

Thank you for reading my review, The doctors now say that I might reach 90 now because of all the changes I made and hopefully I will witness a few grandchildren along the way. I am alive today because I made the choice to live. It was hard to make that choice because psychologically I didnt believe anything was wrong with me even though I was deathly ill. Makes me think.... Am I creating my own life simulation? AmI still deathly ill even though I am healthy again? How much do we take our lives for granted?

I got to screen this film for awards season purposes.

It was very hard not to cry during several scenes.

Branden Fraser is simply amazing. Under direction of Aronofsky it's probably the best dramatic film of the year.

Fraser portrays the role to perfection. You feel sorrow for his character. The lady from Stranger Things that plays his daughter he is trying to reconnect with is going to be a huge star.

There is nothing unlikable about this film. Fraser tugs at your heart strings with the struggles his character goes through.

It's almost hard to watch at certain points in film; I had to take several breaks it's very emotional.

Fraser is a very genuine guy in real life I have met him twice a decade apart and he was the same amazing guy.

I hope this film does very well and ushers back a long awaited revival for Mr Fraser in Hollywood.

Brilliant actor & film.

10/10.

There's a part of this movie that even before going in I was apprehensive about. Is it exploitative? More than probably, yes. Is it phobic in a certain way? It isn't impossible to think that. But being far removed from certain aspects of what the movie shows and yet being so close and feeling related to a lot of other things the movie portrays, I can only speak from what I got and felt about this movie.

Performances by Brendon Fraser, Sadie Sink and Hong Chau were absolutely fantastic. But that's something almost everyone knew even before going in. What really touched me was the detailing through which they showed why each character behaves in certain ways and how everything ended up this way. The absolute helplessness of humans under a system and subsystems across various levels of power that are meant to make life better creates more obstacles for everyone involved are arguably the root of the evils here. But the way each person deals with the evils they face is entirely different even when those reactions have so much in common. That is really reflected in each of the performances. Each of them shows a variety of emotions that are so humane and makes your heart break even more with the contrast between their philosophies on life and how life treats them.

For me, the film wanted to tell us that everyone is flawed, but it's the authenticity that should matter more than anything else which should be the road to happiness in life.

See The Whale just to watch consummate actors, Branden Fraser and Sadie Sink, playing father and daughter, furiously catch up with each other after years of separation. Set in Charlie's apartment, just big enough for his morbidly huge body, The Whale is not only about the reconciliation of this odd couple and the survival of obese Charlie but rather about how obsession can consume faster than a greasy piece of pizza.

Besides his abuse of food, Charlie refuses to let the Zoomed-in students see him in his rolling flesh. Yet, he is not self-centered or food-obsessed enough not to care about others, especially his flinty daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink, so much like a young Ellen Page), for whom he writes college essays (he teaches writing) and saves for her over $100K. His heart is as big, well, as his body.

Writer Samuel D. Hunter (also author of the play) and director Darren Aronofsky move Charlie toward either reclamation or death; they remind us he did abandon normal life for a gay love, who eventually committed suicide, and over whom Charlie has not recovered. Good enough for Charlie to despair and abandon himself to food.

Ellie's finishing high school is Charlie's other obsession, and whether or not they all can survive their confrontation is the abiding suspense. Pervading the drama is a sense of regret in almost every character except maybe the pizza delivery boy, Dan (Sathya Sridharan). Even Charlie's ex, Mary (excellent Samantha Morton), suffers the sorrows of their split family.

Hong Chau, who has had a great year, if only for her role in Triangle of Sadness, plays the gritty Liz, a caretaker for Charlie and true friend, regretting Charlie's descent that allows no trips to the hospital and hides his money for his unstable daughter.

The itinerant Jesus fan, Thomas (Ty Simpkins), is food for another essay but for now an effective emblem of the intricate characters supporting Charlie's journey. Herman Melville lends figurative richness to the proceedings. If I haven't convinced you of the gold in this small film about a big man, go see it to witness my prediction that Fraser will win Globes and Oscar.

Darren Aronofsky surprised me with this film as he kept the characters and their reactions to circumstances as the center of what's happening on screen.

What was further surprising to me was the thorough nuance with which the film's sensitive themes are explored. Aronofsky is not a subtle filmmaker, but each of these characters is given such satisfying depth and is portrayed with their flawed perspectives and endearing desires on full display.

The film has no hero or villain. Everyone is made out to be both to an extent and it's heart-wrenching to come to know these people throughout the film and watch them seek redemption.

Some have criticised the screenplay as melodramatic-I didn't find this to be the case. I found it largely authentic, tragic, and full of intrigue that compounds as more information is revealed.

My only glaring issue with the film is that one of the characters starts out as complex and with a singular nature, only to have that completely altered, oversimplified, and abandoned in his final scene. It seemed to me that this was done for the sake of the desired themes but at the expense of the character.

But Brendan Fraser's performance alone marks this film as a colossal triumph, and there is much excellence to be seen throughout its entirety.

I feel torn when it comes to The Whale, because there are parts of it that I think are really well done and other parts that miss the mark. It suffers when it comes to writing and pacing, and isn't quite as visually dynamic or cohesive as most of Darren Aronofsky's films, but succeeds when it comes to acting (and parts of it are moving, at least during the scenes that are well-written).

Brendan Fraser's great of course, and it's worth watching the movie for him. If he wins the Oscar for his performance, I think it'll feel like a deserved win. He does more than just letting the prosthetics and special effects do the work for him, and when it comes to the things he has to do physically and emotionally, he's remarkable.

Elsewhere, Hong Chau and Sadie Sink are both very good, but I do question the writing of the latter's character. I also didn't think the characters of Thomas and Charlie's ex-wife were very consistently written or interesting at all, but would blame that more on the writing than the performances of their actors. I'm not sure anyone could make them feel like real people with the material here. Sink's character also feels like a caricature, but she does well considering what she's given.

It's all a bit boring visually (even by the standards of one-location movies), and I didn't love the pacing (even if it builds to an ending that's solid). I mean, some things also felt telegraphed and on-the-nose a little too much- I just didn't really think this was well-written or paced, and lacked the visual oomph of Aronofsky's other movies.

But Fraser's great, as are the other actors, and it's unique and emotional in parts. I can see some loving this and some hating it. I really liked parts, and wasn't crazy about other parts, but still feel like it ends up being decent overall.

Brendan Fraser has proved he still has it. It's a beautiful performance that's long overdue for him. A film that will make you cry and love Brendan. A must see. He has long been a fan favorite actor but this Blast from the Past will make you rethink his acting. A brilliant film that is a sneaky great film. If you are on the fence about seeing this you'll regret not seeing it. I felt a sense of sadness and love when watching this film and I cried many times. It's not a film that comes around 9ften but when it does it changes cinema. An Oscar contender film with real heart. The best film of 2022.

I just got back from seeing this movie in theaters. I'm not sure what to say yet because I'm still feeling and processing everything I just watched. All I can say is the performances in this film were incredible all around. I was crying throughout the majority of the film because so much of what was depicted and described in the movie paralleled so many things that I have experienced in my own life. I only wish my dad could have seen this movie before he passed away last year, and that maybe we could have talked about it if we had been in touch the last couple of years. This movie probably will not affect everyone the same way but it definitely had an impact on me. I've never seen anything like this before. Ever.

Set over the course of a week, Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is a reclusive English professor who following the suicide of his boyfriend is morbidly obese and eating himself to death. Charlie refuses to seek medical treatment or go to the hospital with his only regular contact being with his friend/nurse Liz (Hong Chau) who does what she can but cannot convince Charlie to take any other action. With Charlie ready to embrace the end of his life, he seeks to reconnect with his abrasive and estranged daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) whom he had from his marriage prior to coming out, as well as visits from Christian missionary Thomas (Ty Simpkins) who seeks to convert Charlie.

The Whale is an adaptation of the 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter (who writes the screenplay) and directed by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky had sought to make a film adaptation of The Whale for 10 years, but had trouble finding a suitable lead actor for the role of Charlie until a viewing of 2006's Journey to the End of the Night convinced Aronofsky that Brendan Fraser would be perfect for the role. Upon release the film deservedly drew strong attention for Fraser's heartbreaking performance in the central role in what as a major comeback for the actor (though this arguably started with the strong attention from his work on Doom Patrol as Robotman) with Fraser's performance getting more attention than the movie itself. Fraser's performance is undeniably great and he deservedly won a Academy Award for Best Actor for his work, but the real question isn't if Fraser is worthy of the award, but rather is this movie worthy of his performance.

Starting off, Fraser's performance is every bit as great as you've heard. Fraser's take on Charlie shows a man who's broken but overflowing with appreciation and love for others while seldom sharing any of that love with himself. Charlie purposely avoids forming new connections be it with his Pizza delivery man whom he communicates through the door or his students whom he teaches with his camera turned off and you get this very raw but also very human portrayal of man who's consumed by loneliness and whose pain he carries literally and figuratively emotionally eating to dull that ache. Hong Chau is really good as Charlie's friend and nurse Liz who tries to do what she can to help Charlie but Charlie makes it clear that he doesn't want to be saved either by Liz or Thomas the young missionary. Sadie Sink also gives a strong performance as Charlie's daughter Ellie even if I think the film has a lot of problems centered around that character. While you seemingly have all the right ingredients for something that should work really well, the movie seems like it has a very wrongheaded approach involving its handling of Severe Obesity especially with its inclusion of several scenes that seem like they're put in for shock value more than anything else such as our first scene of Charlie engaging in onanistic activity or several lengthy scenes where Charlie is described by himself or others as "disgusting". The play being made when it was feels like it's stuck in a certain mindset about this topic, and given Arronofsky's penchant for lingering on shocking elements of Thematic material it gives the film an air of callousness towards Charlie which I'm not sure is intentional or not, but the character of Ellie does some pretty unforgivable things that feel like they're framed in a more forgiving light than they should be.

The Whale is a frustrating film because it features a really strong performance surrounded by material that's simply not up to the level of its central lead. While The Whale provides a solid opportunity for a showcase of Fraser's acting prowess, the material is simply Arronofsky putting the audience through a tedious unpleasant slog without much of an emotional payoff.

Beautifully crafted, vulnerable, yet gripping. Extremely visceral from the get-go, starting with a memorable (and uncomfortable) first scene. It doesn't lose its grip on you until the touching, heart-wrenching end. The camera is very opinionated in showing you a POV and it's based on the screenwriter's own experience struggling to connect with a younger person whilst self-medicating through food. Critics please note - it's not a film about fat people or being fat. At it's heart, it's themes are quite deep - redemption, self loathing, emotional honesty, judgement from others and the struggle to find real connection. Incredible and challenging performances, especially from Brendan and Sadie.

Imagine that there was complete silence in the hall for 2 minutes after the end of the movie (The Whale). You don't come across something like that very often. Brendan Frazer, directed by Darren Aronofsky, gave an incredible, amazing performance. When you watching this movie, you felt certain feelings at once. Such films don't happen often, but when they do, they change the cinema for the better. This psychological drama about guilt, loss, and trauma is one of the best films of this year. I hope it wins all the awards it will be nominated for, most importantly in the best actor category ( Brendan Frazer). He will probably win.

TLDR: I liked The Whale, all things considered. This is a touching, sometimes difficult-to-watch, but frequently interesting and engaging movie, anchored by a stellar performance from Brendan Fraser. He really shines here. But, the movie is a bit too melodramatic and unsubtle for its own good, and can be a bit one-note, especially given it's runtime.

The Good:

1. Brendan Fraser. If a Best Actor win wasn't enough, let this lowly IMDB critic confirm it: Fraser is amazing in this movie. His performance isn't just "sad" and it isn't just him crying. He transforms into this character and expresses a pantheon of emotions; it's a truly remarkable and powerful performance that is worth the watch alone. Fraser's Charlie is a broken man, but a smart, kind, and fundamentally optimistic one. He's a complex and interesting character, and one I found myself really rooting for. Fiction is the ultimate empathy machine and while you don't have to love Charlie, I think it's fair to ask you understand him and where he's coming from.

2. The rest of the cast (mostly). Hong Chau is great in this movie as Charlie, I also (mostly) liked Sadie Sink as Ellie. Sink's raw talent shines through, yet again, even if her character can be unbearable at times. Ty Simpkins rounds out the cast as Thomas, a missionary from an Evangelical church, and gives a pretty good, and likeable performance.

3. The "stage play aesthetic." This film feels very much like a stage play, and I wasn't surprised to learn it was based on one. While some might decry its lacking cinematic quality, I actually really liked the confined setting, repeating stage play cues (i.e. The knock), and general pace of the movie. At points, I sort of felt I was watching a play, and I liked that quality of it.

4. The philosophy (mostly). I think this film has a nice outlook and explores some big questions in an interesting, if sometimes melodramatic way. It's actually quite astonishing how much the film really ends up being about given its setting and subject matter, and while I don't think all the positions are satisfying, A for effort.

5. The make up and set design. I feel like I could smell Charlie's house whilst watching this movie. Yes, the set is simple but it really feels like a place someone is living, as opposed to a set. Charlie...looks fantastic. The make-up and prosthetics truly transform Fraser.

The Bad:

• The philosophy. At the same time, I think this movie frequently veers into melodrama. Fraser's whole speech about um...college not mattering because what matters is (*checks papers*) that you can write a short sentence about yourself is what REALLY matters...was cringey, to say the least. The movie is extremely on the nose at times and sometimes feels like it's hand holding the audience. Aronofsky typically makes quite challenging movies, and I have to wonder if the studio insist he make this clearer and more straightforward.

• One note. Another thing, and consider this a minor negative, but aside from a few moments of levity, this is an otherwise pretty miserable movie. I don't know, felt like given the run time, we could've used a bit more variety.

• Sadie Sink and her Mom. I understand why Sink's Ellie acts the way she does, and I feel she is redeemed in the end, but OH MAN, is she one of the most irritating teens I've seen on screen in a while. Samantha Morton's Mary on the other hand...gave one of the most "play like" performances in the film, with even her voice sounding weirdly clearer and louder than others in the film. It's as if she's...on stage or something, and maybe it was intentional, but her scene just felt off to me for that reason.

This was truly an experience. I went into this with very high expectations and I can truly say they were exceeded.

The acting was impeccable. I honestly think Brendan's performance may be the best performance by any actor that I have witnessed. If that statement isn't true, I can assure you that he brought the most emotion out of me than any other actor. Sadie Sink was also phenomenal here. I was blown away. Hong Chau, who I somehow didn't know before this, was also out of this world.

As always, Darren makes the whole thing gorgeous to watch-even when the scenes are filling you with dread, disgust, pity, sadness, etc. I feel like this film made me feel every emotion I've ever felt. I absolutely do not want to see it again anytime soon. I drove home in silence and before long I was sobbing.

I went to see this film alone for more than one reason-but mainly because I wanted to allow myself to feel my emotions in full (aka I wanted to allow myself to cry my eyes out, which I did). I reserved a great seat in the middle so I had a couple to my left and a couple to my right. Both right next to me. When this film ended, none of us made a sound or moved for at least 5 full minutes. I was the first to get up and leave. I've never experienced that before.

This film is not an easy watch but it's an important one. 10/10.

I looooved this movie. It is clearly based on a play, and if you can accept that from the start and just take it all in, this movie really takes you into emotional spaces i didn't expect.

At some parts I admittedly laughed when I shouldn't but when the film reaches culmination it's impossible to not be taken by the beautiful agony of this tale.

This will win a best lead Oscar and bc Aranofsky used so much restraint I suspect he will be snubbed but as with all his films I guarantee you wont be able to shake this movie off.

This is legit art and it will make you uncomfortable, but unlike Mother -- it will be totally justified in the end.

I was immersed into this film from start to finish. Darren Aronofsky directed a spellbinding emotional triumph in cinema The Whale deserves numerous awards mainly for Branden Frazier! I love the essays, the engaging scenes, how honest everyone is, and heartwarming vibes. I don't have any complaints this is a perfect movie. I hope Branden is ok this movie had of been difficult to make. A tour de force view of an obesity and bonding that is continuously top notch acted. Every scene is worth watching mostly drama and some comedy mashed in well. I hope the movie gets high praise it very much deserves it all, highly recommend The Whale.