Product: Gods and Monsters (1998)
Rating: 5.0
Brendan Fraser's dramatic turn & Bill Condon's breakout
For those of you who think of Brendan Fraser only as a goofy man of broadbrush, physical comedy (see Dudley Do-Right, Encino Man, Airhands, Bedazzled, George of the Jungle, etc., etc., etc.), the eye-opening surprise of "Gods and Monsters" is in his wonderfully underplayed dramatic turn. And, to prove this outing wasn't an aberration, he followed up 'Gods' with his outstanding 2002 turn as covert CIA man Auden Pyle in 'The Quiet American.'Also, for those of you who saw and enjoyed the bracing honesty of Bill Condon's much lauded 2004 release "Kinsey" (the rare biopic with little fictionalization license taken to 'boost' the narrative story), I urge you to take a step back to see this smaller (21-day shoot) release. It was 'Gods' that marked Condon's transition from screenwriter and small-screen director of movie-of-the-week genre to movie helmsman of critical repute. 'Kinsey' proves that 'Gods' was no fluke. We're in the presence of one of the movie industry's leading talents.