Brendan Fraser's performance in The Whale is the best thing about a bad movie, and its awards potential reflects the best and worst parts of Oscar season. rockmarooned explains:
. As of this writing, in mid-December 2022, it is far from certain, but it’s well within the realm of possibility. By casting Fraser as Charlie, an obese man confined to his apartment as he enters the final stages of heart failure, the movie offers a literalized version of what so many Oscar vehicles do for their stars: It is a big part in a small movie. Charlie never leaves his apartment, and apart from a couple of dreamlike flashbacks, neither does the movie.
The movie is so effective at providing a showcase for Fraser that no one making it seems to have noticed what an amateurishly stagebound productionis, the kind of theatrical adaptation where you can practically hear the clip-clop of actors’ shoes on the floorboards. Some plays-on-film give the impression of material that might have worked better on stage.
There is a long history, of course, of movies that seemingly exist in order to garner their stars some awards recognition, and the prosthetics Fraser wears as Charlie , while somewhat controversial today, would have been par for the course a decade ago.
, a movie that, if cool heads prevail, will not be racking up a bevy of additional nominations. But his chance at gold does reflect how the categories have flipped in stature over the last few years, with Best Actress typically offering a more competitive race and Best Actor tending to honor five obvious choices, for a paucity of alternatives., doesn’t exactly hide its stage roots, was perfectly calibrated to showcase Chadwick Boseman.
Jesse Hassenger writes about movies and other pop-culture stuff for a bunch of outlets including The A.V. Club, Polygon, The Week, NME, and SportsAlcohol.com, where he also has a podcast. Following
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