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But he’s also saddled with a screenplay that spells out every emotion in ways that are so clunky as to be groan-inducing. At Charlie’s most desperate, panicky moments, he soothes himself by reading or reciting a student’s beloved essay on Moby Dick, which—in part—gives the film its title and will take on increasing significance. He describes the elusive white whale of Herman Melville’s novel as he stands up, shirtless, and lumbers across the living room, down the hall, and toward the bedroom with a walker. At this moment, you’re meant to marvel at the elaborate makeup and prosthetic work on display; you’re more likely to roll your eyes at the writing.
“He thinks his life will be better if he can just kill this whale, but in reality, it won’t help him at all,” he intones in a painfully obvious bit of symbolism. “This book made me think about my own life,” he adds as if we couldn’t figure that out for ourselves.
A few visitors interrupt the loneliness of his days, chiefly Hong Chau as his nurse and longtime friend, Liz. She’s deeply caring but also no-nonsense, providing a crucial spark to these otherwise dour proceedings. Aronofsky’s longtime cinematographer, the brilliant Matthew Libatique, has lit Charlie’s apartment in such a relentlessly dark and dim fashion to signify his sorrow that it’s oppressive. Once you realize the entirety of the film will take place within these cramped confines, it sends a shiver of dread. And the choice to tell this story in the boxy, 1.33 aspect ratio further heightens its sense of dour claustrophobia.
But then “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink arrives as Charlie’s rebellious, estranged daughter, Ellie; her mom was married to Charlie before he came out as a gay man. While their first meeting in many years is laden with exposition about the pain and awkwardness of their time apart, the two eventually settle into an interesting, prickly rapport. Sink brings immediacy and accessibility to the role of the sullen but bright teenager, and her presence, like Chau’s, improves “The Whale” considerably. Her casting is also spot-on in her resemblance to Fraser, especially in her expressive eyes.
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