No. 12 (2023) THE WHALE 21st Feb.

 

Film No. 12  (2023)  February 21st.  6:15 PM EVENT Cinemas, Cine 6   Woodlands W.A.

"I think I need to accept that my life is not going to be very exciting" (A line written by one of Samuel D Hunter's students, when he was tutoring in real life, and which sparked him to write the play, The Whale).

NOMINEE : Best Make-up, Best Actor (Brendan Fraser), Best Supp Actress (Hong Chau), Best Director (Darren Aronofski) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Chicago Indie Critics Awards.

I know that when I'm headed to see the latest Darren Aronofsky film, I'm in for a test of the heart. He's a film-maker keen to test your empathetic self.  BLACK SWAN and THE WRESTLER are memorable examples; they ask questions about family, loyalty, regrets and in the end, hope for reconciliation.  

This time Aronofsky adapts a play. Samuel D Hunter's stage play The Whale first played 11 years ago as part of The Denver Arts program. It is, in the main, a little known play, but Aronofsky saw it and felt the need to adapt it. Hunter got the shock of his life when Darren rang him to secure the rights. Samuel could hardly believe what had happened.

Charlie is a morbidly obese on-line English tutor with a plethora of issues, least of all is his eating disorder. Aronofsky, using the nearly forgotten talents of Brendan Fraser, has given Hunter's script a wonderful re-telling. There are a number of reasons that we become invested in Charlie. The prosthetics used to make Charlie a giant figure of morbid obesity is a credit to this industry of make-believe, but here we are revolted initially;  but as all good stories make us  do, we grow to root for Charlie. He's a victim of his own decision making but coping is difficult. He's trying to take responsibility. Is he able to make peace with those closest to him? If you loved THE WRESTLER you will be taken by THE WHALE.

A play enacted for the small screen is a turn off for many. Adventure entertainment it is not, but seriously well written drama it is. That's not to say there aren't defects. Sadie Sink plays a nasty, bitch of a daughter, Ellie, but we never really know why she is like this. Wife Mary (Samantha Morton) appears, rather than evolves. Hong Chau's, Liz, is loved but never fully appreciated by either us or Charlie - and I'm not totally sure why. Oh, and I wish the ending didn't leave me with a WTF moment. But, THE WHALE, is never the less, mesmerizing!  10GUMS.