Now, this was a movie that I had wanted to see for a long time. In fact, I had wanted to see it since it first came out. There was just something about it that seemed intriguing to me.
This movie was a redemption of sorts for Brendan Fraser, who plays Charlie, the main character. Fraser had been pretty much shunned by Hollywood following a sexual assault committed against him, as well as other issues that he was dealing with regarding his health. So in a certain respect, this role was fitting for him, as he plays a man who himself has suffered devastations in his life, and who has allowed his health to deteriorate to such an extent that he now is in serious danger of dying.
Admittedly, this movie was not quite what I was expecting. Like, at all, if I'm being honest. Not sure exactly what I had expected before actually having finally seen it, but I guess I imagined a guy who let himself go, and who then eventually stops eating and begins to get his weight and his health more under control.
However, this movie turned out very differently than I had imagined. Now before I get into specifics on the movie, let me just give that necessary warning that there will be spoilers ahead.
***SPOILERS***
***SPOILERS***
***SPOILERS***
Okay, so if you are still reading, then I imagine that either you already are familiar with this movie and how it goes, or you do not mind spoilers. Either war, here goes:
Charlie is gay, which was kind of a surprise to me. While specifics are never given, the impression that I got (and could be mistaken about) was that coming to terms with this fact likely was one of the demons that was haunting him for a long time, until he met someone who he fell in love with, and who also was struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality. His name was Alan, and we begin to get a fuller picture as the movie goes along. Eventually, the pain of his rejection from his own family, and his church (he was very serious about his faith) proves to much. Alan's life spirals out of control, and this wind sup killing him. The woman who regularly checks in on Charlie, and who appears to be the only real company that he gets, is Liz, played by Hong Chau. She is Alan's brother.
So they both clearly very much miss Alan. And perhaps that is why they are together so much: because they have that tragic link to a departed loved one together. Somehow, depsite having allowed himself to grow dangerously obese, to the point where it seems like he has days to live at most, Charlie still retains his positivity. Liz, on the other hand, has turned extremely cynical.
Her cynicism shows in particular against the unnamed religious character, played by actor Ty Simkins. He is part of a local church, which is described and hinted as an "end of the world" kind of a cult by both Charlie and Liz at different points. He is young and seems completely taken by his faith, and has taken a very sincere and personal interest in saving people, by going door to door and spreading the word. In fact, he is the first person we see other than Charlie, and he catches Charlie in a very compromising position, seemingly having a heart attack after getting excited watching gay pornography.
Soon, we see another major character enter. This is Ellie, Charlie's daughter, played quite capably by Sadie Sink, known particularly for her work in Stranger Things. Ellie feels like the troubled teenager going through all sorts of angst and anger and rebellion. She had a way about her which her mother (Mary, played by Samantha Morton) is convinced is nothing short of evil. However, Charlie is ever the optimist, and views her as the most beautiful person he knows, and interprets her way of talking and doing things in a very different light. It is clear that he loves his daughter, but the extent of this love grows much clearer as the movie goes along.
We find out that when Charlie met Alan, the love of his life, he left his wife and Elie, his daughter. There was a tough custody battle, which he obviously lost. And so they have not really been a part of each other's lives in eight years, which of course is an eternity for a child (she's just 17). She is clearly angry and acts out in typically teenaged ways, clearly wanting to hurt him. From calling him a "fag" to saying that he is "disgusting" and that his apartment smells, and even taking a picture of him, without permission, and then posting it on social media (without either his knowledge or approval) and making a very hurtful comment about his picture.
Ellie is not supposed to see Charlie. Mary, her mother (Charlie's ex-wife) has been very adamant about that. However, a confrontation between all of them, with Liz present, seems inevitable. That is when things really hit the fan, if you will. Ellie storms out in anger, and eventually, Mary and Charlie are alone together for the first time in many decades. They are tender at first, before it explodes into a heated argument. It is at this point that Mary claims that Ellie is evil. Again, though, Charlie has a very different take, and remains positive. Eventually, when Ellie uses those same tactics of taking pictures without first asking, and even recording a private conversation, with the religious boy, she uses it and finds out about him, getting back into contact with his parents back in Iowa (this movie takes place in Charlie's apartment in Idaho). When Charlie finds out about this, he feels that this is proof that far from being evil, Ellie in fact cares and tried to help, taking the most positive spin possible.
Meanwhile, Charlie feels like he cannot do anything right in his life. He offended Liz when it is revealed that he has a substantial amount of money (about $120,000), which he intends to fully go to Ellie. But Mary is skeptical that Ellie is mature enough to use the money wisely, and Liz is outright offended that she has had to scrape by in helping him, while he was sitting on an enormous sum of money that he was keeping from her. So Liz, the only real person left in his life, appears to be gone. His daughter seems only outraged and disgusted by him, and his ex, Mary, is not about to reenter his life, even though she seems sympathetic to his struggles. Also, it is very clear that Charlie is used to people being disgusted by him. We see him struggling with his addiction to eating extremely unhealthy food throughout, but he really ramps it up at this point. Clearly, he is trying to hasten his own demise with perhaps the only form of suicide he has left.
When they had been alone together, Charlie recalled to Mary what appears to be his favorite memory. At least, it was one moment of almost total happiness for him. They had been taking a family vacation along the Oregon Coast. He was dipping his feet in the water, and kept cutting himself on the rocks. Mary then yelled at him for getting blood in the car when they drove away later on.
Charlie does not die instantly, and in fact, has more visits from people. He has one more confrontation with the unnamed religious boy, and gets him to admit his harsh judgement of Charlie. Also, he makes up with Liz, basically saying their final goodbyes. And he does one other thing, which you know is a sign that he is getting ready to die: he had been teaching an online writing course, but keeping his camera blacked out to hide his condition. After having sent them a very direct and even harsh note with some profanities, urging them to be honest in their writing, he finally turns the camera on, as a token gesture of honesty. The reactions seem predictable, as some of the kids are seen smiling and laughing. Charlie had revealed early during the class discussion that he has already been replaced because of the complaints with the note, and then he throws his laptop across the room in anger and disgust.
One final person comes to visit. It is his daughter, Ellie. Charlie finally tells her just how much he loves her, and what she means to him. Early in the movie, when he was having his heart attack when the religious boy came into his home, he had asked him to read an essay about Moby Dick. Every time that he feels some medical emergency coming on, he reads it. We find out that, in fact, he has memorized the whole essay, word for word. Right at the end, as his daughter is cursing him out for having written a paper for school for which she received a failing grade, he asks her to read the paper that he gave her to submit. She begins reading it, and recognizes it. That is when we find out that the essay was hers, and that Charlie has been reading this paper (which Mary had given him) as some way of keeping his daughter in his life, despite her actual absence in his life. So right at the end, she finally understands that far from abandoning her because he did not love her, her absence in his life was one of the most painful disappointments for him. The paper was the one and only way for him to feel even remotely close to her, and she finally understands this as a sign of real love. As she reads it, he does what Ellie had challenged him to do earlier in the movie: he gets up off the couch and walks to her, without the aid of his walker or the wheelchair. Right at the end, he finally does die.
Obviously, this is not a cheery or happy movie. In fact, it is intensely depressing almost throughout, without pause. However, there is a certain beauty underneath the surface, particularly evident in Charlie's unrelenting (and sometimes perplexing) positivity, and how he finds real beauty and meaning and, of course, honesty, in writing. Yet, he is harsh with himself, clearly losing the struggle of his urges to eat incredibly iunhealthy food to the extreme. Brandon Fraser used to be kind of a sex symbol, particularly with his starring role in "The Mummy" trilogy of movies many years ago. But this performance really showed some amazing acting. He is believable as Charlie, and you really get the full range of emotions from him in this performance, including (perhaps especially) the self-loathing. He makes you as the viewer feel his loneliness and despair, and almost feel his physical discomfort and pain from his condition. And you also really feel that Charlie is sincere in his love of the written word in the form of essay or poetry. Most of all, you feel that his love for his daughter, and his heartbreak after losing Alan, is real. The acting is pretty solid throughout, in fact. Everyone is good. But Fraser is off the charts good in this one. Not a "fun" movie to watch, but one that is extremely moving and impressive in it's own way.
Highly recommended!
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