The Whale New Movie Honest Review

The Whale Movie Review 

The Whale is a one-room play adapted for the silver screen by Darren Aronofsky, known for his surreal dramas, of which we see a hint in this film. It follows a week in the life of Charlie, an obese English teacher who realizes he is dying after refusing to go to the hospital when he suffers heart failure.  

 Instead, he tries to accept his fate, spending time with his only friend Liz, chatting up a random missionary, and reaching out to the angry teenage daughter he left when he was young.

  Brendan Fraser gives us the role of Charlie when we're ready to roll our eyes right from the start. This movie is worth the hype for Brendan and Brendan alone because it will win him an Oscar. It deserves to be called Brenaissance, or its comeback, or whatever it likes, as it carries the entire film on its dexterous and prosthetic back.

  Besides watching it, the entire making of The Whale is an experience on another level, as the film used elaborate prosthetics for Charlie's body rather than taking the easy way out with CGI, earning Oscar nominations for Makeup and Hair as well. Of course, all the technical aspects are top notch as it all comes together neatly to give us a suspenseful drama.

  From the haunting music that reaches a crescendo to convey Charlie's emotions, to the dark yet soothing color gradations that make us feel like we're in his tiny apartment, Balina does everything in its power to keep us hooked. Its well-paced and tightly edited structure sustains an interest that could easily become dull and boring by giving us Thomas' shocking and multiple revelations and Alan's heartwarming story.

  Although The Whale is only about one man, all the other characters are well written, from nurse Liz to missionary Thomas and Charlie's ex-wife Mary. But the constant anger they show in the face of Charlie's optimism is sometimes overwhelming.

  Unfortunately for Sadie Sink, the promising child actress who plays Charlie's daughter Ellie, she has no character arc as she gives us an intense but one-note performance. Of course, the audience understands why Ellie is angry, but the screenwriter had to work hard to save her.

  If the ex-wife could only have a range in her character arc in one scene, why can't her daughter have an arc? A spark at the end of the movie is not enough to forgive Ellie for how she is in the rest of the movie. Even if it's not realistic for a person to change in a week, how did they make it work with the wife?

  A writer using Mary as a template would have to change the story or other characters to make Ellie's story work with the plot. Maybe his character would have worked if Charlie hadn't been so optimistic. But his constant positive and forgiving nature just makes him bad, he's clearly a poorly written character, not a gray character unlike Thomas. It's a story about redemption, and everyone but Ellie gets it.

  But that doesn't overshadow the wonderful moments in the film, from Charlie's epiphany to his friendship with Liz. It also tells us the importance of love and how it is enough through some touching dialogues, just as Charlie gave Alan maximum love when he needed it the most. And while Liz leaves Charlie as a friend because she's trying to be selfish and not lose someone she loves, she comes back as a nurse because she needs him.

  Overall, Balina is an adequate adaptation of the one-act play, using the cinematic format and staying true to it by transcending the limitations of the stage. From the talented cast to the plot, although not brilliant, it does its job of telling us a bittersweet story.