Movie Review: The Whale (2022) seen in theatres

Drama: some scenes may be unsuitable for young children: language, mature themes and frightening medical scenes which are life threatening

This movie stars Brendan Fraser as Charlie, (last name unknown,) a college professor who has become reclusive after his boyfriend left him which results in him becoming obese from over eating as a result of heart break. He tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, after he left her and his first wife for the aforementioned boyfriend when his daughter was really young. Years later, she has yet to forgive and he spends the whole movie trying to get back into her life unfortunately with little success. In the movie, Charlie is seen as morbidly obese with his weight having become a cause for concern from his personal nurse Liz. Throughout the movie, Liz urges Charlie to go to the hospital especially at times when it appears he may have a heart attack or has trouble breathing. Charlie however refuses to listen to the suggestion as he can’t afford the hospital bill and thus, his health deteriorates more and more throughout the film and it becomes hard for him to do the simplest tasks such as taking a shower, walking and even standing up without the danger of falling over due to his size. He is seen having been connected to an oxygen tank and sweats profusely from just moving one way or another.

The movie also showcases his bad eating habits. In multiple scenes throughout the film, he is shown over indulging in chocolate bars, eating three at a time while writing on his laptop, (something else he has trouble doing due to the size of his fingers.) He also orders extra large pizzas frequently and leaves the money in the mailbox for the pizza delivery man to collect as he cannot open the door. He knows the delivery man by name, (I think his name is Dan,) as he orders from the same restaurant enough and always gets the same delivery man. He is seen eating the pizza right from the box in large quantities only stopping after he vomits profusely. In other scenes, he is shown over indulging in 2 litre bottles of soda in one sitting as well as by his bed side while he is laying down. A scene shows him in his bed where his large body size makes it impossible for him to fit his whole body in his bed.

The saddest scene in this movie is when Liz gives him a couple of enormous sized meatball subs. After he unwraps one and begins eating it and nearly swallowing it whole, he ends up choking on it and Liz is just able to save him from dying. She then ridicules him for not taking his time to eat the food.

Though his daughter’s primary reasoning for blacklisting him from her life is because he abandoned her as a child, there are also hints that suggest his daughter refuses to acknowledge him as his size has become a source of embarrassment for her. In a couple of scenes, she implies that she does not want to have him in her life and when asked why, she would reply with something to the effect of “Look at yourself. Have you seen yourself in the mirror recently?” “God you’re disgusting,” ETC while telling him she cannot bring herself to have her friends around him as it would embarrass her.

At times throughout the film, she occasionally is seen taunting him about his weight. An example of this is shown when Charlie says he would do anything to get his daughter back in his life and she tells him to stand up and walk over to her, at which point shed would consider his offer. After he attempts to and falls through the side table next to his couch, she responds by saying, “You couldn’t even walk over to me. I knew it. You’re nothing but a fat f—-n a hole!” before slamming the door.

This movie is a real tear jerker. Anyone who watches this movie should be able to hold in their emotions. Personally, I had a hard time holding mine in and I don’t usually cry during movies. However, there were some really sad scenes in it.

While I don’t condone his daughter’s behaviour towards him throughout the movie, I can kind of see where she is coming from. I mean, looking at the facts, Charlie not only abandoned her as a child for another man but he also ate himself sick to the point where any bite or breath could be his last. He is morbidly obese and eats like a pig, he can barely walk or do even the simplest things due to his size and we can’t forget the most important thing….he is on the verge of dying throughout the film. With all of this said, I can really understand why his daughter would be embarrassed to be seen with him around her friends or wouldn’t even want anything to do with him all together.

Though this movie was really sad and hard to watch, it emphasizes the saying which is “You made your bed. Now you have to lie in it.”

This saying could be true to the movie as the events that occurred within the movie resulted in the poor decisions Charlie made. He chose to leave his daughter and to eat the way he did, being fully aware of the consequences of those decisions. Maybe if he chose to live his life another way, things would have been better for him and maybe his daughter would have had more respect for him.

On a personal level, this movie serves as a warning for me of what might happen to me if I continuously eat the way he did in the movie. As I suffer from some weight problems myself, (although these problems are nowhere the level of his weight problems,) it dawned on me that I could become as disgusting, fat, and unappreciated by my family if I don’t watch the way I eat. After seeing what Charlie had to go through in this movie, I definitely don’t want to end up like that.

Movie rating: 7 out of 10

I give this movie a 7 out of 10 because despite it being sad, it gave me a good life lesson as to why I should watch my eating habits and what could happen if I don’t.

No pun intended: The important life lessons in this movie outweigh the sadness in this movie.

All in all, I urge anyone who watches this movie to bring a box of Kleenex with them….it’s a tearjerker to say the least.