Everyone loves a good comeback story. The journey one takes from setback to comeback can often provide inspiration and hope for those also going through difficult times. So when Brendan Fraser, who is perhaps most well known for his performance as Rick O’Connell in The Mummy trilogy, was announced to be playing Charlie in a film adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play The Whale—his first major role in a film in roughly a decade—many people, including myself, were very interested to see what he could do. So, I saw the film over winter break, and it is easily one of, if not my favorite, movies of 2022.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale tells the story of Charlie, a morbidly obese online college professor who keeps his camera turned off out of fear of showing his appearance to his students. Charlie’s rapidly declining health due to his obesity motivates him to reconnect with his estranged daughter, played by Sadie Sink. As you can likely gather from that brief description, this is not a movie that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. However, that is by no means a criticism of this film. Although the subject matter of the film is extremely heavy, the performances of both Fraser and the supporting cast make it difficult to keep your eyes off the screen for long.
In particular, Fraser’s performance in The Whale is one of the greatest I have seen in a long time, and it earned him a six-minute standing ovation at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Charlie is not an easy character to play on paper, as he makes a lot of questionable decisions in his life, but it’s clear that his heart is in the right place. Despite this, Fraser portrays Charlie’s complexities in a way that makes you feel sympathetic toward him, and his line delivery is straight-up gut-wrenching at times.The Whale is one of those movies that can truly be described as an experience, and I think it’s something that everyone should see.
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