THE WHALE
TRIBUTE TO BRENDAN FRASER
SPIRIT | US CINEMA
US 2022, 117 min, Director: Darren Aronofsky
Hinging on a career-defining performance from Brendan Fraser, The Whale is an emotionally resonant tour de force, by turns funny and devastating. Fraser plays Charlie, a 600-pound online writing teacher and fragile gay man stricken by grief. Confined to his dead-end Idaho apartment, Charlie ticks off his days binging on pizzas as visitors cycle in and out: an enabling caregiver (Hong Chau), a wayward missionary (Ty Simpkins), an angry-as-hell daughter (Sadie Sink), and an alcoholic ex-wife (Samantha Morton). Samuel D. Hunter brilliantly adapts his award-winning 2012 play, plumbing the complex nooks and crannies of religion, loss, sexuality, and literature. Ever sensitive to Fraser’s vulnerable and commanding performance, visionary director Darren Aronofsky (Variety Contenders, MVFF37) proves an ideal match for the material, giving it edge, humor, and unsentimental heft. —Randy Myers
IN PERSON: Brendan Fraser
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