A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 50 wins & 122 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFor the role, Brendan Fraser had to don a heavy prosthetic suit that he wore for hours. According to a piece in "Variety", he told members of the media in attendance at the Venice International Film Festival, "I developed muscles I did not know I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed. It was like stepping off the dock onto a boat in Venice, that undulating. It gave me appreciation for those whose bodies are similar. You need to be an incredibly strong person, mentally and physically, to inhabit that physical being."
- GoofsCharlie nicks his skin when shaving, but the cut disappears in the next shots.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Projector @ LFF: The Whale (2022)
Featured review
Darren Aronofsky surprised me with this film as he kept the characters and their reactions to circumstances as the center of what's happening on screen.
What was further surprising to me was the thorough nuance with which the film's sensitive themes are explored. Aronofsky is not a subtle filmmaker, but each of these characters is given such satisfying depth and is portrayed with their flawed perspectives and endearing desires on full display.
The film has no hero or villain. Everyone is made out to be both to an extent and it's heart-wrenching to come to know these people throughout the film and watch them seek redemption.
Some have criticised the screenplay as melodramatic-I didn't find this to be the case. I found it largely authentic, tragic, and full of intrigue that compounds as more information is revealed.
My only glaring issue with the film is that one of the characters starts out as complex and with a singular nature, only to have that completely altered, oversimplified, and abandoned in his final scene. It seemed to me that this was done for the sake of the desired themes but at the expense of the character.
But Brendan Fraser's performance alone marks this film as a colossal triumph, and there is much excellence to be seen throughout its entirety.
What was further surprising to me was the thorough nuance with which the film's sensitive themes are explored. Aronofsky is not a subtle filmmaker, but each of these characters is given such satisfying depth and is portrayed with their flawed perspectives and endearing desires on full display.
The film has no hero or villain. Everyone is made out to be both to an extent and it's heart-wrenching to come to know these people throughout the film and watch them seek redemption.
Some have criticised the screenplay as melodramatic-I didn't find this to be the case. I found it largely authentic, tragic, and full of intrigue that compounds as more information is revealed.
My only glaring issue with the film is that one of the characters starts out as complex and with a singular nature, only to have that completely altered, oversimplified, and abandoned in his final scene. It seemed to me that this was done for the sake of the desired themes but at the expense of the character.
But Brendan Fraser's performance alone marks this film as a colossal triumph, and there is much excellence to be seen throughout its entirety.
- benjaminskylerhill
- Dec 20, 2022
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $17,463,630
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $332,152
- Dec 11, 2022
- Gross worldwide
- $57,615,635
- Runtime1 hour 57 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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