The Whale
- Title: The Whale
- IMDb: link
Not many films from 2022 brought me to tears, but director Darren Aronofsky‘s managed it with the payoff to his emotional tale of an isolated Internet professor (Brendan Fraser) suffering from guilt, loss, and an obesity that has grown to life-threatening levels. With its small cast and singular locale of nearly every scene taking place within Charlie’s apartment, designed and organized to fit his needs, we feel his isolation in every moment of Aronofsky’s chamber drama.
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Considering the subject matter of his previous films, Darren Aronofsky could be accused of being a little obsessive/addicted himself, as his latest film takes an unflinching look at a self-proclaimed ‘broken down piece of meat’ wrestler who finds it impossible to give up life in the ring even as he comes to terms with the notion that his best days are indeed well behind him. Mickey Rourke inhabits the body of Randy ‘The Ram’ like no other role in his career, making The Wrestler not only one of the best films of the year, but elevating Rourke beyond the lost-years of the last few decades to the potential film icon he once was.