The Whale

 Oh, I remember The Whale!

I think.

Is it the one with The Squid or the one with the Mozart?

It's neither, Baxter. 

Ahh ... What is it?

This particular whale sees Samuel D. Hunter adapt his stage play for Darren Aronofsky to direct. It's not fun, that's for sure. Let's see why.

OK.

Our hero, Charlie (Brendan Fraser), has seen better days. Almost no one, not even his online writing class, sees him at all. He had a family whom he left for another man, Alan. Alan eventually starved himself to death, while Charlie went the opposite route. When the film opens, Charlie is 600-pounds and if you think "that can't be healthy," you're right. An awkward incident leads his caretaker, Liz (Hong Chau), who was also Alan's adopted sister, to diagnose him with congestive heart failure. He has mere days to live. 

During this time, Charlie gets his estranged daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), to visit him. He decides to help her pass her English classes to save her from flunking school all-together. That's a difficult challenge, considering she's so volatile that her own mother, Mary (Samantha Morton), considers her evil (her words, not mine). A new missionary, Thomas (Ty Simpkins), shows up often to try to save Charlie's soul. They all have their own issues to work out before it's too late.

Fraser is obviously the film's center as Charlie. We're confined by Matthew Libatique's Academy Ratio cinematography in his apartment, a dour place designed by production designers Mark Friedberg and Robert Pyzocha. We see him live out his existence the best he can. He soothes himself during crises by reading a particular essay on Moby Dick. He sees the good in everyone but himself, which is a bit frustrating to watch. His gorging on junk food is quite unpleasant, especially during a bit of binge-eating near the end. He does get some levity, especially in one scene, where he realizes Ellie accidentally wrote a haiku of misanthropy. Fraser is fine in the role, while the makeup team who bulked him up headline the Oscar race in spades.

Hong Chau as Liz deserves her own paragraph. Her chemistry with Fraser gives the film its greatest levity. She's quite blunt as his nurse, and chummy as his old friend. Some might question her enabling his food troubles - she brings him a bucket of fried chicken just after the grim diagnosis - but she otherwise has his best interests in mind. A compelling scene with Thomas lets her divulge her troubled history with organized religion. It's enough to warrant an Oscar nomination along with Fraser. She's nominated for the SAG Award, so that's likely.

Now for everyone else. Ellie's attitude doesn't initially endear herself to the audience. Her resenting Charlie is understandable, but what did her classmates do? We sympathize with her, but her interactions with Thomas let us like her. She gets him to open up about his troubled past and helps him reconcile with his family. We sympathize with Thomas even when he talks about Alan with optimistic condescension. Mary's only scene lets her have a heart-to-heart with Charlie. Her initial anger cedes into forgiveness. Morton makes the most of her screentime, as does Sathya Sridharan, who is only heard as Dan the Pizza Guy until the end.

It's a bleak movie, but it's not boring. The Whale briskly moves through its 117-minute runtime. Its theatrical limitations feel natural for its story. Its compelling supporting cast surrounds a fine leading actor. Charlie's decline is sad, but he finds some value near the end. In fact, everyone else finds value in their lives thanks to each other. It's a movie full of surprises. I won't blame you if you seek something lighter. But you'll be surprised too if you seek this film out. It's easy to see why it's a big name in this year's Oscar race.

Especially the makeup.