Brendan Fraser is fantastic. I wish the movie had been about Charlie and Liz-the only real, grounded characters-and their strong relationship. I would've loved to have known more about them and what they thought and cared about. The actors are clearly fully capable of delving into these characters, but the script let them down. Instead we get a long, clunky, predictable play with flat characters. The daughter and ex-wife are not believable or interesting-I cared far more about the delivery man. At least he tried to connect instead of just being a bundle of angry cliches. It's as if time stopped for the family members when Charlie left, and that just isn't how broken families work. There was a lot to work with in that family dynamic, but the script doesn't do anything with it. The missionary was just whatever, again not revealing anything except plot points that fell flat.
The script's treatment of Charlie's condition was strange, blaming his behavior and broken heart for a body gone haywire. That just isn't how severe obesity works. It was odd for the film to have so little empathy for Charlie and to use the terrible whale metaphor, and the last moments were just cringeworthy. Just weird to play that like a triumphant last moment, as if agreeing with the fatphobic lie that a little motivation could've overcome the issues with his body. Charlie's relationship with Alan is also played like a freak show or something. Compare to the great film A Single Man, also about a man grieving his partner, and you can really see where this film went wrong as far as their love story.
I loved that Charlie was a writing teacher and would've welcomed more literature talk, but, again, the script was never interested in complex thoughts and feelings and in the strategies different people use to deal with the incredibly hard business of living. It was only interested in leering at Charlie's body and relationship and blaming him for both, and in instructing actors to cry.
I hope Fraser gets parts worthy of his talents from now on. If so, this film will have been worth it.
The script's treatment of Charlie's condition was strange, blaming his behavior and broken heart for a body gone haywire. That just isn't how severe obesity works. It was odd for the film to have so little empathy for Charlie and to use the terrible whale metaphor, and the last moments were just cringeworthy. Just weird to play that like a triumphant last moment, as if agreeing with the fatphobic lie that a little motivation could've overcome the issues with his body. Charlie's relationship with Alan is also played like a freak show or something. Compare to the great film A Single Man, also about a man grieving his partner, and you can really see where this film went wrong as far as their love story.
I loved that Charlie was a writing teacher and would've welcomed more literature talk, but, again, the script was never interested in complex thoughts and feelings and in the strategies different people use to deal with the incredibly hard business of living. It was only interested in leering at Charlie's body and relationship and blaming him for both, and in instructing actors to cry.
I hope Fraser gets parts worthy of his talents from now on. If so, this film will have been worth it.