Product: Gods and Monsters (1998)
Rating: 5.0
a very heart wrenchig tail of friendship
i love the beauty in this movie. ian mckellen is flawless as the late james whale. lynn redgrave is both hilarious and sincere as the made hannah. and brendan fraser as clay boone has the perfoect body, size, and head to remind the audience of frankenstein. james whale was the director of two frankenstein movies and this movie is an exploration of a relationship between him and his gardener. through the whole movie the audience sees this relationship grow from simple friendship to one of love. as the movie progresses the audience understands that both men have internal issues concerning their father. one of the special moments of the movie is the realization that fraser sees mckellen as a father figure and mckellen realizes he is a father figure to fraser. both men found something in each other that both of them needed. there are so many aspects to the friendship between the men that it is hard to delve into all of the different facets. at the end of the movie mckellen tries to make another frankenstein monster out of fraser. i find this incredibly sad yet i understand the motive behind mckellen's actions. the man is sufferring and is ready to leave this world and he knows exactly what to do to try and make fraser turn on hjm. but the bond that is shared between them is too strong and he cannot go through with it. i just love the way this movie transcends stereotypical assumptions and ideas and shows the type of friendship and relationship that can develop between two men from different worlds and have it mean something. this movie is great and shows the depth of the human heart and what it is capable of when you open up the heart and let someone see the real person inside. it really is a beautifjul thing.