Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton
Directed By: Darren Aronofsky
Written By: Samuel D. Hunter
For those not acquainted with The Whale, they may only know it as the movie starring Brendan Fraser in a 600-pound fat suit. The tragic story of a morbidly obese man dying from heart disease is far different from Fraser’s real life story of a triumphant return to acting after being a go-to blockbuster hero primarily in the 90’s and early 2000’s. He was part of many childhoods, including mine, so it was sad to see him vanish from the silver screen and hear of the multiple hardships he endured while he was away.
The Whale is about an obese and dying man named Charlie
Fraser plays Charlie, an English professor who teaches online due to his physical condition. It’s not ironic that his students are writing essays about Moby Dick. Charlie lives alone in a messy, but strangely homey apartment. His only friend is Liz, played by Hong Chau, who also serves as his nurse. There’s also a feathered friend who sometimes comes to the window and who Charlie leaves a plate of food for.
But as the film opens, we’re invited to Charlie’s world and what appears to be his final week of life. His blood pressure reading is 248/134 and from his Google search, he should call 9-1-1 right away. The problem is, despite the pleas from his nurse and devoted friend, Liz, he refuses to go to the hospital as he doesn’t want to go into debt. Charlie seems resigned to his fate and would rather save his remaining time on earth to reconnect with his estranged teenaged daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink).
Charlie was once married to Ellie’s mom, Mary (Samantha Morton). But when Ellie was eight, Charlie fell in love with a man named Alan (who also happens to be Liz’s brother) and left Ellie and his life behind. The abandonment left Ellie an angry and petulant young woman.
Brendan Fraser brings the humanity out of Charlie
The Whale moves along at a nice pace and engrosses you mainly due to Brendan Fraser’s performance. Even though Charlie did a horrible thing to his former family, you can’t help but to like Charlie. He’s a great teacher to his students. He’s nice to animals. He’s not causing anyone trouble. Since he’s refusing medical care, I found myself wanting to help Charlie repair his body by showing him what foods he should eat and getting him a Fitbit.
I know The Whale isn’t about how horrible healthcare is or the food industry, but it made me extra sad that a nice guy like Charlie and lots of folks who are like Charlie have to suffer needlessly because they can’t afford healthcare (mental and physical care) and/or can’t afford and access healthy food.
Charlie offers money to entice his daughter to spend time with him
But Charlie has no will to live. He just wants to do one good thing before he passes on and that’s to ensure the one good thing in his life, his daughter, is taken care of. Charlie has accumulated $120,000 in savings and he is determined to provide for his daughter despite her angry outbursts.
Ellie is convinced to stick around when Charlie offers to pay her the $120,000 if she stays and spends time with him. He even agrees to write an essay for her as she’s (not a surprise) on the verge of flunking out of high school. But Ellie isn’t the only young person who has breached Charlie’s inner sanctum. A missionary named Thomas (Ty Simpkins) keeps returning to Charlie’s apartment.
A young missionary and the role of religion in Charlie's demise
Thomas was initially invited in after he knocked on Charlie’s door seeking help as his phone wasn’t working. Thomas had divine timing as Charlie was suffering from his medical condition and needed help. The pale-faced boy appeared seemingly out of nowhere dressed in an adult’s Sears standard suit good for interviews and funerals.
If I were in Charlie’s situation, I’d be fearful of a kid trying so hard to look like an adult and is comfortable knocking on apartment doors for help in the pouring rain. I honestly thought Thomas was a criminal or serial killer of some sort. I went into watching The Whale understanding that it’s a man who wants to reconnect with his daughter, but I was open dark and twisty turns considering it was a Darren Aronofsky film.
An important theme that didn't seem necessary
But as it turns out, Thomas is just a kid who’s lost on his own, but believes in religion and his mission to save people through his religion. The sudden shoehorning of a character that symbolizes some pretty heady themes felt unnecessary despite it being very necessary.
One of the core themes of The Whale, which is based on writer Samuel D. Hunter’s play of the same name, is about religion. In this instance, religion did not save Charlie. Instead, it destroyed Charlie and therefore those around him. Although it’s a very powerful message, I didn’t think it was needed for this story. Or for me, anyway.
I was so engrossed with Charlie as a person and his life that the religious part seemed to stunt the emotional momentum of the story. This is ironic considering the fact it’s the reason why Charlie’s partner died. There is a theme of religion in The Whale as it’s what ultimately killed Charlie’s partner and Charlie’s happiness. Alan starved himself due to being shunned by the church. Charlie went in the opposite direction and continues to eat his pain away or perhaps eating not just for him but on behalf of Alan. Liz is Alan’s adopted sister, but her family is heavily involved in the church.
The movie is essentially set in Charlie’s apartment, so I just wanted to get to know Charlie, his daughter, Liz, Mary, the students in his class, and even the pizza guy who delivers his pizza. All of these people are in some way a part of Charlie’s life. Thomas the creepy kid wannabe Joel Osteen and the religious references don’t belong there.
We needed more time with Liz and Mary
If the Thomas character was completely cut out and replaced with more screen time for Charlie’s ex-wife, Mary, and with Charlie’s best friend, Liz, it would’ve fleshed out even further the immense humanity Charlie has including those around him.
The complex spectrum of emotions by Hong Chau’s Liz is how I felt watching The Whale. She’s fed up with how her friend just can’t chew his food properly without choking or how he’s so stubborn to not go see a doctor. But she does all she can to help him anyway as a trained nurse and as a friend. She gets him his groceries. She provides medical equipment. She even tries to protect him from his own daughter who almost killed him by spiking his food with Ambien. She’ll do everything she can both medically and emotionally to care for her best friend. But we all know that she will soon lose yet another person in her life. So it’s not just sad that Charlie is choosing to die without medical intervention, but it’s also sad that Liz will be alone as she doesn’t have any other friends or family.
And very surprisingly, the brief appearance by Charlie’s ex-wife Liz rounded out so many parts of Charlie’s life. We got a glimpse of the emotional damage he caused and the damage he left behind. But we also got to know a tiny bit of what it was like when he was a family man and Liz was a married woman. And in the one scene with Charlie and Liz, we come to see that Liz still cares for Charlie. When she lay her head on him to try to hear his heart, you can see that she still misses him and she’s mourning for him as he doesn’t want her to call for help. Her one last call of asking him if he wanted any water before she left was her way of saying goodbye.
The angry, angst-y teen daughter was too cruel for too long
I wanted more of this. Less creepy Bible kid and even less of the teenage angst and anger from Ellie. It’s not the acting but the character of Ellie that didn’t quite work. There’s too many stories of the angry, bitchy, whiney, brat teen and her anger throughout the film just seemed too much. All she ever seemed to do was curse and yell. Her character remained cruel and aloof up until the ending. The final few minutes of Ellie reading her essay aloud to her dad was the Ellie I wanted to see more of.
I know this movie is based on a play, but I would have cared more about Charlie caring for Ellie if Ellie’s character was more like Mary. There’s anger and resentment, but her character found a way to compartmentalize those parts of their lives and still show some kindness. I honestly thought she was going to kill him like the Bible kid. The way she kept ragging on her dad, I thought the twist would be Charlie giving the money to Liz.
But no, that didn’t happen.
The Whale is a sad tale
Despite a couple of bumps in the story that could have been smoothed out, The Whale as a whole is a sad story to see. The constant reminder of what day it is makes the viewing experience even sadder as we know that with each day that passes, we’re getting closer to his resigned demise. Charlie just gets worse and worse as each day passes and he continues to refuse to call for help.
The scene where Charlie binges is just so painful. With every bite, you can’t help but to add up the amount of calories, fat, and sodium that will no doubt push his blood pressure to the breaking point. You want to stop him and tell him there is a way out, but he would rather accelerate his pending death than fight to delay it.
That’s the most frustrating part of watching someone like Charlie experiencing this. Not frustrating in that it’s annoying, but frustrating in that it makes you feel so sad that someone thinks they’re not worthy enough to fight for. And for Charlie, his fight is completely doable. Counselling. Nutrition. Exercise. He could come back from the brink if he wanted to. Or at least live a more comfortable life in the mean time.
The ending of The Whale made me gasp and smile. Charlie gets up from the couch with the sunlight shining on him as he steps towards his daughter. Ellie is reading the eighth grade essay she wrote with raw honesty about Moby Dick and it’s fueling him to put each foot forward. As he stands before his daughter, we see his feet elevate from the floor and the movie ends with the memory of him and his family during the memorable beach day.
Should've been an Oscar Best Picture contender
After seeing The Whale, I’m surprised it missed out on key nominations like Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay. And I know the Best Supporting Actress category already has Hong Chau, but if Judd Hirsch could get a nomination for his short time in The Fablemans, then Samantha Morton should have been considered as well. What a performance. She made me wish there were even more flashbacks and stories about Charlie and Mary’s married life.
And I understand there has been criticism of Brendan Fraser being cast over an actor who is of that weight category. But there is a reason why The Whale is nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. In no way is the faux fat even fake looking and it doesn’t make Fraser look like he’s the actor playing a part. Charlie truly looks the way he does. And when you watch the film, you’re not distracted or gawking at his size. You go in learning about his life and wanting him to get help, so you can learn more.
The Whale is an excellent movie. It’s not perfect, but here’s hoping the Brenaissance continues.
Comments