Product: Gods and Monsters (1998)
Rating: 4.0
brendan fraser is surprisingly good
As a society enamored of Hollywood we tend to focus most of our interest on the people who star in the movies. What these actors and actresses are up to keeps us constantly scanning the news shows, legitimate periodicals, and tabloids. Frequently, this fascination causes us to forget that someone was directing these movies. Only a small handful of Directors ever get the attention that we focus on the stars. This movie focuses on one.James Whale directed many movies but the two that put him on the map were Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. This movie focuses on the last weeks of his life. Prior to the beginning of the movie he has had a stroke. While Whale has made a complete recovery physically the stroke has affected his brain. He is beginning to have flashbacks of his younger years and loves. Memories that he may be happier not remembering. We discover that Whale may have been hounded out of the elite of Hollywood over a sex scandal. You see, while it is acknowledged that there are homosexuals in Hollywood, it has always been something that people don't want to have flaunted in front of them. Whale didn't care what people thought and seemed to have many wild parties at his house.Whale begins a strange relationship with a young gardener that has recently begun to work for him. The gardener, Clayton Boone, is a strapping young man who is searching for something in his life. The two's relationship grows as each begins to find more of what they are missing from the other until the final explosive night.Ian McKellen is James Whale. Mainstream American audiences haven't seen much of McKellen over his long career. That will soon pass as McKellen has been signed as Magneto in the upcoming X-Men film. All who have seen him find McKellen to be a phenomenal actor and richly deserving of all the awards that have come his way. The surprise to some in this movie will be the man who plays Clayton Boone, Brendan Fraser. Mainstream audiences are used to Fraser in movies such as Encino Man and George of the Jungle. While exceedingly funny movies, they don't show his acting ability to the fullest. This role does. Fraser is with McKellen step for step all the way through expressing surprise that this famous man wants to spend time with him and then coming to a greater understanding of himself.This is a very powerful movie. Some will not like it because of the blatant homosexual references throughout but to allay this fear it is for the most part not graphic in this depiction. The movie is well directed and the acting by all is wonderful!