Female Film Critics 24/375
The Whale is not what you think. Yes, The Whale is the tale of a morbidly obese man, but it is so much more. Significantly, The Whale is about words and writing, teaching and fathering, eating and essaying. The film is a tight and poignant homage to friendship and love with words ebbing like waves on the shore.
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Brendan Fraser delivers a remarkable performance in the title role of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, adapted from his play by Samuel D. Hunter. Before we even glimpse his gigantic, 600-pound frame, we hear his gentle voice, teaching an English literature class on-line. Encased in a latex suit with digital prosthetics, designed by Adrien Morot, Fraser’s portrayal is inevitably minimalist, a choice that exudes pathos, even when he’s gobbling greasy pizza or devouring a bucket of fried chicken.
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The Whale is exceptional, brilliant, and mind-blowing. The concept itself is gut-wrenching. Darren Aronofsky does what he knows best – capturing the portrait of a broken human being and presenting it in the most devastating way. For that, he just needed to find the right actor and, Brendan Fraser was the chosen one. Don’t be surprised when he begins to grab one award after another because no one can match his level of acting this year – that’s what we all must be certain of.
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Steven Soderbergh’s created a stupefying ‘noir’ trip back to 1954 in Detroit, where ex-con Curt Goynes is eager to pocket $5,000 to re-claim land that was taken from him. When he visits his buddy’s barber shop, he’s sent to the back alley where he’s hired to hold the Wertz family hostage while the husband/father, an accountant at General Motors, is forced to steal engineering specs.
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