The Whale

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale follows Brendan Fraser’s Charlie, a morbidly obese writing teacher, as he attempts to settle his affairs after learning that he’s only got a short time left to live. Filmmaker Aronofsky, armed with Samuel D. Hunter’s screenplay, delivers an erratically-paced drama that fares best in its opening and closing stretches, as the movie, which transpires almost entirely in Charlie’s grungy apartment, suffers from a less-than-enthralling midsection that does, at times, feel as though its spinning its wheels – with the hit-and-miss vibe compounded by the continued presence of Charlie’s rebellious, intolerable teenage daughter (Sadie Sink’s Ellie). (Her seemingly ceaseless anger becomes awfully tough to take, ultimately.) It’s clear, then, that The Whale benefits substantially from Matthew Libatique’s periodically striking visuals and Fraser’s pervasively engrossing performance – with, in terms of the latter, the actor turning in completely lived-in and often spellbinding work that proves effective at smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls. By the time the unexpectedly (and almost impressively) emotionally impactful finale rolls around, The Whale has cemented its place as a mostly watchable drama that is, unfortunately, rarely able to elevate itself to Fraser’s superlative level.

*** out of ****