The Whale (2022)
Brendan Fraser won an Oscar for his performance as the heinously obese Charlie in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. This is not Aronofsky's usual type of film, it's literary and visual with limits and yet it is staid, too. Set in one, dusty bungalow as a man with clear mental health issues, who’s eaten himself into disability, tries to reconnect with his daughter. The film relies on emotions and the main two of those are sympathy and whatever makes people choose Oscar winners.
Spoiler alert, I didn’t have much sympathy with most of The Whale. Charlie’s relationship with his daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) is militant and almost punitive in a way: it shares no similarities with healthy on either end. My notes become more sweary and pissed off about how much The Whale has been praised, but I’ll keep this slim and true to those notes.
Oh fuck off, it's just man in a fatsuit. It's essentially a man forming a relationship with estranged daughter set in one bungalow; this should not be a feature length film. I'm not saying Brendan Fraser hasn't done well but Christ Hollywood goes fucking mental when someone doesn’t adhere to being beautiful (see: Charlize Theron in Monster). While not poorly made, The Whale is further evidence of why I hate The Oscars. It’s all about the buzz.
I mean it's not going to get a bad mark, but don't try and tell me that The Whale is pioneering cinema, storytelling or anything like that. The Father was similar but infinitely better. Fuck off Oscar you golden penis. 6/10.
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