Do Not Give This Man An Oscar

We all love Brendan Fraser. This is not the role that he should be awarded for.

I like Brendan Fraser. Let me say that immediately. This is not in any way a shot at Brendan Fraser, a solid actor who does his best with what he’s given here in The Whale. We all remember The Mummy or George of the Jungle or Bedazzled or Encino Man or whatever else. The problem is that all of those movies listed have more compelling leads and developed characters than The Whale.

So one note as to almost be 1/2 a note, The Whale is the new Darren Aronofsky (ugh) film centered on an unraveling obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter before time runs out. It’s based on a play, and boy … does it feel like it’s based on a play.

In the same vein as Blonde, the more I think about this movie the less I like it. It’s part of a growing list of cultural artifacts in which someone is overweight and it destroys their life. I’ve been thinking about Bros’ Guy Branum’s The Whale take, and after seeing the movie, I definitely see what he’s saying.

I think that the source material of The Whale is problematic. I think that it’s trying to use extreme fatness as a metaphor for gay pain. And as an actual fat gay person, I feel like my life doesn’t need to be a metaphor for somebody else’s pain.

The movie has little to say other than, this guy is fat and sad and he fucked up his life. After a certain point, The Whale becomes a mockery of itself as it shows Fraser’s character waddling around constantly being distraught.

Fraser and co-stars Hong Chau, Sadie Sink and Samantha Morton are trapped in these cliched archetypes like doting friend, angry-at-the-world-teen and unfit mother, and then eventually the movie ends. There isn’t really any change or reconciliation or … anything. It’s glorified garbage, and it ends and you’re left wanting something (anything) else.

At the moment, Fraser is leading the charge for Best Actor. It’d be great to see him win it; I just really, really hope it’s not for The Whale.

It feels more like an It’s Time trophy than anything else, a frequent Oscars mistake that constantly looks ridiculous years later.

There are plenty of examples. Look at Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye from just last year or Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland a few Oscars earlier. Both are from panned biopics that center on a “gutsy” and “fearless” performance that is more of an SNL character than a cinematic effort. Recent actor winners like Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and Will Smith (remember The Slap?) are similar specimens.

I’ve railed against this before, but now I have a newsletter, so I’m writing it once again. None of these performances are remembered all that fondly, and I’m worried that Fraser is going to be added to the canon.

If I had my druthers, I would have more fun with this category. Colin Farrell is a commendable choice as he’s able to balance comedy and gravitas effortlessly in Banshees, but I would also add Antonio Banderas, Daniel Kaluuya and even Tom Cruise and Robert Pattinson into the mix. These aren’t just fun, but they’re intersting roles that demand more than a fat suit and being sad. Their performances are all three-dimensional and make sense in the movie as opposed to the movie caving and entirely focusing on an over-the-top performance like Fraser’s.

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Brendan Fraser got emotional after ‘The Whale’ received a standing ovation in Venice.

What this feels like it’s turning into is an award for Fraser more than his acting, and, yeah, that’s usually the case when it comes to acting Oscars, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try to throw my body in front of the train as it comes hurtling towards us.

He has a story that people want to root for and a comeback narrative that works well in soundbites and press releases.

It’s certainly not the best acting performance of the year. That means it’ll most likely win.