Just when most everyone in Hollywood thought Brendan Fraser had gone out of style - older, rounder, bigger in size - the veteran actor swings back with a powerful, forceful film.
The Whale, which opened in the Philippines February 22, has quickly reinstated him to the center of attention as he plays a morbidly obese, reclusive English teacher in the film directed by Darren Aronofsky.
The role, a rarity among Fraser’s league of actors, has fetched him an Oscar best actor nomination, his first ever.
Thanks to TBA Studios, which is exclusively distributing the film in the Philippines, we were among the first to witness during a recent media preview Brendan Fraser’s transformation from that suave and sinfully handsome idol of yesteryear (Bedazzled, Blast From the Past) into the hopelessly decadent, junk food and meat-eating “monster” of the present.
xxx
The Whale tells the story of teacher Charlie, who lives alone in a small town in Idaho.
He hides out in a squat, darkly-lit, one-level house where all he does daily is eat his way to death. He is desperate to reconnect with his teenage daughter for a last chance at redemption. He is also gay and separated from his wife.
While the film reeks of honesty and truth, writer Samuel D Hunter said that it is almost completely a work of fiction and not based on a true story. He cleared, however, that certain aspects of the plot are semi-autobiographical.
Beyond the obtrusive, overweight physicality of Fraser’s character, the film sends out a strong message towards caring and understanding human frailty. Fraser’s vulnerability and maturity as an actor, hiding under heavy, unbearable prosthetics from head to toe, shines through practically throughout the 1-hour-57 minute feature.
That, to me, makes The Whale truly a relatable, heartbreaker of an experience. Fraser’s Charlie, many thanks to his subtle nuances, tone and projection, allows the audience to see the man not as a mere costume, much less, as a caricature, but as a human being.
The film can also take pride in the equally arresting performances of its tiny cast, notably Sadie Sink ("Stranger Things") the rebellious daughter, and fellow Oscar nominee Hong Chau (The Menu), as the visiting nurse/caregiver.
Mention must also be made of Fil-American Matthew Libatique, who did the film’s cinematography. It is consistently dark, dramatic, quite lonely, and brooding, building up to a storm-a-brewing towards the film’s climax.
xxx
In a story on Backstage magazine, posted Feb. 23, 2023, Fraser explained his so-called comeback.
He said he was never that far away, that he never really left.
He explained that the roles just got smaller and less physically demanding by design. He spent time on TV shows like “The Affair” and DC’s “Doom Patrol,” and in less commercial movies like Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move.”
“I thought I was done when it came to everyone’s perception of me,” Fraser tells Backstage.
Backstage said: “The problem was never that the actor was gone; it was that his presence once loomed so large in people’s lives that any retreat felt like a loss.”