The Whale

Saw The Whale, a grotesque but uplifting film about a morbidly obese gay man who is facing down his last days, trying to make amends and trying, in his words, to do one good thing.  The film is directed by Darren Aronofsky, who is fond of films about self-destructive characters.  This one features a lot of addictions and simultaneous with that, a lot of empathy and attempts at saving the main character.  All of the characters damage the protagonist in their own ways, even as they try to help him.  Even his nurse friend enables his food addiction, however I don't know if this is helpful or not.  Addiction is a difficult thing.

The film is based on a play and retains many of its theater bones.  Much of the action happens in the main character's living room.  Sometimes he leaves and the other characters remain, to explain backstory to each other.  A nosy Mormon (well not really Mormon but a lawsuit-safe pseudo-Mormon) acts as an impetus for a lot of backstory drops.  The stage setting helps to make the film feel claustrophobic, isolated, trapped within its own body.

The film is terribly sad.  The main character is utterly pathetic, constantly murmuring "I'm sorry." as his exasperated support network shouts at him or begs him to go to a hospital.  In spite of his own self-destructive coping mechanism, he retains a solid core of values that he is willing to die for.  His character is written slightly cattily.  There are many zingers and one-liners.  He has the feel of The Man Who Came To Dinner, but thankfully he's merely played in a sleepy, avuncular way by Brendan Fraser.

There's also many moments when the protagonist is likened to Moby Dick, of the novel by the same name.  He is the white whale for many of the characters: the one monstrous thing that, if they could only fix, if they could only solve, they would have achieved their life's work.  But the monster in the fat protagonist is the same monster that is killing all of us.  Everyone in the film is struggling, all of them quietly self-destructing as they fail to address their own problems and turn inwards, devouring themselves.

It's a sad and tough film.  It has a warm heart, but it is not clear that this is enough.  It reminded me of The Kid Nobody Could Handle, a similarly melancholy story by melancholy author Kurt Vonnegut.  Like this film, it is also about the impossibility and necessity of reaching each other.