That Aronofsky. Dude knows how to catch a vibe in a movie. Now, going into this, I'd seen Black Swan and Mother! And LOVED both of them. There's something about his style. The way he's cerebral but emotive, the way it's so focused on reality while reality spirals out of control and merges with the unreal. The way he embraces the metaphor, the allegory, the poetry of it while still keeping a foot in our world. Raving about Aronofsky aside, I really wasn't feeling this at first. Most of the first act of this movie had me pretty bored and wondering if this was going to be a whiff from him. But then it kept going, kept drawing me in. Fraser is exceptional in this, deserves every iota of praise he gets because he takes this character and really just breathes life into him, he makes this perfectly flawed, lovable, awful, self-destructive... Human. He's so very human. From the way he speaks, to the things that get him excited, to the manipulations and the expressions and the pain. Just so very human.
Now, I watched this on Mother's Day with my mother. Her choice, not mine. She didn't feel like going out, so we stayed in, chatted for a while, decided to order dinner. Olive Garden, which people who know, know. Olive Garden is small town fancy. So we've got our OG, she decides on The Whale of all movies and I'm slurping on some soup, trying to get into the first act and then... By about the halfway point I realize I've stopped eating. Now, part of that is likely the subject matter, but beyond that, I'm just so engrossed in the story before me, the characters going through their lives that my tortellini are going cold in front of me and I do not care. By the end, I was in tears. I want Fraser in all the things. And I realize that I'mma be eating my pasta the next day.
This was a stupendous film. There is no doubt in my mind that Fraser deserved his Oscar (admittedly, haven't seen Aftersun or Living but still). Honestly, I'd go so far as to say it was snubbed from Best Picture. Don't think it should have won, but I'd put it in there over Maverick or Elvis. Easily. And I've seen Elvis about a dozen times, quite like it. It's not a better movie than this. Maverick is... Fine. It's a great action movie, but it's not best picture unless we're in one of the Everything Everywhere universes where best picture is decided by action scenes. The Whale is a moving character study and I will always put that over hollow action or overly schmaltz'd up biopics.
Now, I watched this on Mother's Day with my mother. Her choice, not mine. She didn't feel like going out, so we stayed in, chatted for a while, decided to order dinner. Olive Garden, which people who know, know. Olive Garden is small town fancy. So we've got our OG, she decides on The Whale of all movies and I'm slurping on some soup, trying to get into the first act and then... By about the halfway point I realize I've stopped eating. Now, part of that is likely the subject matter, but beyond that, I'm just so engrossed in the story before me, the characters going through their lives that my tortellini are going cold in front of me and I do not care. By the end, I was in tears. I want Fraser in all the things. And I realize that I'mma be eating my pasta the next day.
This was a stupendous film. There is no doubt in my mind that Fraser deserved his Oscar (admittedly, haven't seen Aftersun or Living but still). Honestly, I'd go so far as to say it was snubbed from Best Picture. Don't think it should have won, but I'd put it in there over Maverick or Elvis. Easily. And I've seen Elvis about a dozen times, quite like it. It's not a better movie than this. Maverick is... Fine. It's a great action movie, but it's not best picture unless we're in one of the Everything Everywhere universes where best picture is decided by action scenes. The Whale is a moving character study and I will always put that over hollow action or overly schmaltz'd up biopics.