#84: The Whale

Release Date: December 9th, 2022

Format: Streaming (Max)

Written by: Samuel D. Hunter

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

3 Stars

The Whale is a perfectly fine movie. The gimmick, at least in its marketing, was that the movie’s main character is a morbidly obese man, played by Brendan Fraser, in his first leading role in over ten years. I couldn’t help but think of parallels to another Darren Aronofsky film, The Wrestler (2008), which featured a resurrected Mickey Rourke playing a past-his-prime professional wrestler. Both films garnered Best Actor accolades for the actors (Rourke was nominated for an Academy Award; Fraser won it).  

But The Wrestler is a better movie.

The Whale, in comparison, feels a bit cliche. Well-crafted, sure, but a bit cliche nonetheless. The messaging is heavy-handed, and the supporting characters feel like they came right out of a Playwriting 101 class. The symbolism and story beats are all there, and it all works, but probably works better on stage in its original form (screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter adapted his own stage play).  

Watch it for the Fraser performance. He’s incredible. The movie? Perfectly watchable.