All of theatre's worst tendencies are on display in The Whale, which is overflowing with playwright clunkers: schematic plotting, characters who exist as mouthpieces for ideas, and dialogue – Charlie exhorting his class to "think about the truth of your argument" – that etches the story's themes in font that would shame a skywriter.
Fraser, it has to be said, is for the most part very good. There's a sadness to his performance that is occasionally, genuinely affecting; a sensitivity and soul that's sprinkled with the knowledge that the actor has had a bit of a crummy time over the last few years – a once-ubiquitous multiplex presence who was forced to disappear,, from the toll his performances took on his body, and the shame he felt from an alleged assault at the hands of a prominent Hollywood figure.
Moments later, he's blubbering, "I need to know that I've done one thing right with my life," a delivery so marinated in Oscar-reel tears that you can practically see Aronofsky reflected in Fraser's enormous, glassy eyes, waving a gold statuette off camera.
Argh...i actually read that. 😫
Tar is better.
Could they no find an obese person to play this part?
He was in two movies last year, not one