Stuff Digital Edition

Harrowing portrait of love and loss

The Whale (M, 117 mins) Directed by Darren Aronofsky Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★

Students on Oakley University’s online writing course have never formally met their professor.

Sure, they’ve heard Charlie (Brendan Fraser) wax lyrical on the virtues of clear and persuasive language, but they have never actually seen him. There always seems to be a problem with his laptop’s camera. But that’s just the way the morbidly obese Charlie would prefer it.

‘‘I was always big – I just let it get out of control,’’ he laments to friend and nurse Liz (The Menu’s Hong Chau), who knows all too well the reason why Charlie let things slide to the point where he is essentially now trapped in his apartment. Concerned at his rapidly deteriorating health, she is convinced that if he doesn’t go to the hospital now, he will ‘‘be dead by the weekend’’.

However, with no health insurance, that’s not something he is prepared to countenance, despite her pleas that ‘‘being in debt is better than being dead’’.

He also has another reason for wanting to stay home. For years, he has been trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink). ‘‘I need to know that I have done one thing right with my life,’’ Charlie admits, sensing that his time may be short.

Thanks to essentially bribing her, she has at last started coming to visit, although reconnecting hasn’t exactly gone smoothly, as Ellie remonstrates against his attempts to parent her after ‘‘you walked out me when I was 8 because you wanted to f... one of your students’’.

Like Florian Zeller’s The Father, this is a searing, immersive adaptation of a stage play.

While it never quite reaches the disorientation heights of that Oscar winner, writer-director Darren Aronofsky and the original playwright, Samuel D Hunter, have done a terrific job of creating a sense of space and place by setting the entire story within the confines of Charlie’s cramped and cluttered apartment.

That means the narrative never quite escapes its theatrical roots (the story essentially revolves around a succession of visitors to Charlie’s home, which allows everyone to work through their regrets and recriminations). But it does allow the audience to be fully drawn into Charlie’s world and confronted with the challenges he faces.

As in Mother! and Requiem for a Dream, Aronofsky paints a moving portrait of broken people haunted by their shared past.

The director draws some terrific turns out of his small ensemble that, as well as Chau and Sink, also includes Samantha Morton and Ty Simpkins. At its centre, though, is a towering performance from Fraser who, as his character would love, can rightly say ‘‘it’s the best thing’’ he’s ever done.

It is hard to believe the once wooden presence who graced 90s comedies such as George of the Jungle, Encino Man and Blast From the Past could be capable of something so emotive and moving.

His casting and prostheticsenhanced showcase won’t appeal to everyone, but there’s no doubting his commitment to delivering as authentic a portrayal as he can.

Boasting sometimes harrowing scenes, raw emotions and confronting imagery, The Whale is a challenging watch.

Some may even find it a little too manipulative with its Herman Melville allusions and dissonant, unsettling score by Rob Simonsen (Ghostbusters: Afterlife).

However, like the best art – and to paraphrase the story’s totemic essay – this movie will make you think about your own life.

After advance screenings this weekend, The Whale will open in select cinemas nationwide on Thursday. Stuff’s interview with star Brendan Fraser is in tomorrow’s Your Weekend magazine.

Entertainment

en-nz

2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282059101134225

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