Gods And Monsters

A friend of mine suggested that we go see this movie. I had heard that it was really good, but I didn’t really think that my friend knew what it was about or what it dealt with. I was a little nervous about going to it with another guy. Maybe I should explain that. The movie is about James Whale, director of the original Frankenstein and Bride Of Frankenstein, and his almost boy toy/gardener. Now, I’m not homophobic and I like to think that I’m pretty secure in my sexuality, but there’s just something kind of unnerving about seeing a movie like this with another guy. Especially when said guy is wearing a biker jacket and looks like a reject from the Village People Movie. I just had to keep telling myself, “These people don’t know us. I’ll never see them again. It doesn’t matter. WE’RE JUST MOVIE BUFFS, DAMMIT!!!!” That seemed to work.

Well, now that I’ve revealed a little of myself, it’s time for the review proper.

Ian McKellen is James Whale in the 1950′s, a used up old director who everyone seems to have forgotten about except for his two most famous movies. He’s retired and happy for it. He really doesn’t want the attention that he used to have. All he wants to do is start painting again like he used to. He’s happy leading his current existence. If he could only stop the flood of memories of WWI and his family brought on by his recent stroke.

Brendan Fraser is Clay, Whale’s gardener. Clay is just a regular Joe. He’s single and really kind of pushing for the local bar girl (Lolita Davidovich from Blaze). He’s already gotten her, but now he just can’t seem to make the right moves. He takes Whale’s offer to sit for him. He apparently has a perfect head, so Whale wants to paint him. Of course, the 8-inch pythons probably have something to do with it, too.

Lynn Redgrave is Hannah, Whale’s long suffering German maid. She knows all about her “master’s” lifestyle and his habit of luring young men in just to have them somehow strip for him. (The first one we see him do it to is even more flamboyant than he is.) She doesn’t approve of it at all (“I know he will burn in Hell.”), but what can she do?

So everyone has their place until Clay starts to figure out exactly what’s going on with his relationship with Whale. Is he just using the painting as an excuse to ogle him? Probably. Is he lonely? Definitely. One of the funniest scenes is when he invites Clay to a party at George Cukor’s house. Cukor was gay, too, but he’s trying to cover it up by marrying Princess Margaret (I think that’s what’s going on…either that or she’s just marrying into the family. I couldn’t really figure it out). When George sees Clay his eyes pop out of his head. Whale says something along the lines of “He’s never met a princess. Only queens.”

The director, Bill Condon, does a great job of bringing the classic horror film feel to the lives of these two men. He’s a veteran of the genre, himself. Some of his magnum opuses are Sister, Sister, Dead In The Water, Deadly Relations and Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh. I’m surprised this one came off as well as it did. I haven’t seen any of his other movies, but I’ve heard. Oh, I’ve heard.

There are a couple of scenes that are particularly affecting. One is when Frankenstein is playing on tv one night. Both Clay and James are watching, Clay at the bar with his friends and James at home with Hannah. Clay’s friends laugh at the “hokeyness” of this masterpiece of horror while Clay is totally into it. James is reminiscing about the making of it while Hannah is saying that it’s too scary and not her “teacup.”

Others are the recreation scenes. Brendan plays the doctor in one to Ian’s monster. Pretty funny stuff. The other one shows some of the making of Bride. Apparently the two lead actors (not Boris Karloff) were gay, too. (Was all of Hollywood gay at this time?) That led to some pretty funny dialog between the two of them, the Bride and Whale. Pretty well recreated, too. When they started filming it almost looked like the original movie until they panned out to show Whale and the crew. I don’t know if they got to use the original equipment (Mel Brooks did!), but it looked pretty authentic.

I must confess right here that I have only seen Bride. I’ve got a poster of Frankenstein in my room, though! Does that count? I’ll get right on seeing that movie, though. Bride was awesome.

So anyway, the performances were amazing in this film. Ian, who seems to be making a career out of screwed up war veterans with strange relationships with young men (see Apt Pupil) put in his usual great performance. Lynn Redgrave also had a great shot with her Hannah who thinks of James as the husband she lost years ago. Brendan was not bad, either, as the young man who gets caught in the middle of it all. There’s something really cool about him. He’s not a great actor, but he has an ease about him on the screen. It really brings life to his characters, and this one is no different. He holds his own against his superiors.

This was a very good movie. The only complaint I have with it is that Clay’s life really doesn’t seem to have much to do with the story. We see his friends fleetingly and then they disappear. His life really doesn’t serve much of a purpose. I almost think it would have been better (and cheaper) to let him just tell about it and leave it at that. Until the end. The last scene works very well. I think Brendan would make a great monster. Oh, and I think I saw just a little too much of the Brendster. There’s got to be a limit to everything. But, I guess if Heather Graham can bear it all for my half of the world in Boogie Nights, the other half of the world can have Brendan in this one.

By the way, this is based on a book called Father Of Frankenstein. I haven’t read it, but if anyone has drop me a line. I’d like to know how it is. If it’s as good as the movie I’ll definitely have to read it.