The Brendan Fraser film that the Oscars scorned is on Amazon

His role as Charlie in the film The Whale (The whale) is not Brendan Fraser’s first great performance. Before it was his role as Clayton Boone in gods and monsters. Yes, it is true that it is the first time that he has carried all the weight (I am not saying it with second ones) of the film, but it is not the first time that he has shown his talent with a dramatic character, nor is it the first time that he has played a character gay. In 1998 Brendan Fraser had the same responsibility as Ian Mckellen for converting gods and monsters (Gods and Monsters), by Bill Condon, in a fabulous film, with a dramatic charge of depth. You just have to watch the Brendan Fraser movie gods and monsters, which is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, to give you an idea. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, to McKellen, for his role as James Whale (yes, a bit ironic, right? Fraser’s two best films have a Whale in common: gods and monsters tells the story of director James Whale, author, among others of Frankenstein), for Best Supporting Actress (Lynn Redgrave) and Best Adapted Screenplay, for its director and screenwriter, Bill Condon. In the end he only got the Best Adapted Screenplay. Brendan Fraser in 1998 was applauded by critics, but that year he had a hard time getting on the starting grid for Best Supporting Actor. He was not nominated for the simple reason that that year he had to compete, not only to get it but to get on the list, with James Coburn (for Afflictionwho won, and deservedly so), Ed Harris (for the truman show), Geoffrey Rush (for Shakespeare in love), and Billy Bob Thorton (for a simple plan). We are talking about 1998-1999, a few years in which the show prevailed and the way of understanding the cinema of an individual named Harvey Weinstein.

It was a year in which Shakespeare in love took away all the awards Saving Private Ryan (yes, they gave him the Oscar for Best Director, but more as a consolation prize), The thin red line, elizabeth already American History X (although they were granted in March 1999). He alone was saved from the massacre Life is Beautifulbecause it was intelligent and double nominated in the categories of Best Film and Best Foreign Film.

It’s not just that Brendan Fraser didn’t have a chance, it’s that neither did McKellen or Redgrave. Ian McKellen had Tom Hanks’ Captain John Miller in front of him, Edward Norton’s Derek, Nick Nolte and his big show in Affliction and Robert Benigni, who was the icing on the cake that the Oscars needed for the gala to have epic, lyrical and emotion in abundance. If it was due to the weight of the interpretation, the thing would have to have been between McKellen, Nolte and Norton. And Redgrave and his straight-laced housekeeper had Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love. There was nothing to do. Not even Kathy Bates had a chance for hers Libby Holden in primary colors. So it wasn’t just that Brendan Fraser hadn’t entered the competition. It is that he would have entered for nothing.