Those of us who saw The Whale in theaters know that a fat suit wasn’t the heaviest weight Brendan Fraser carried to earn an Oscar nomination. He left Hollywood and hadn’t acted in years. When Fraser reappeared, our hunky hero had turned into a regular schlubby guy - just a normal, innocent man. But Fraser’s return to the spotlight meant a lot to me. You see, I grew up watching Encino Man and Airheads countless times a week. Not only that, but people always told me I looked like Brendan Fraser growing up.
My interest in Fraser reemerged at the hair salon a few months after he came back with the new look. My memories of Fraser’s movies returned when my barber said mid-cut, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like that guy in the Whale movie?” I’d like you to assume my barber compared me to present-day Brendan Fraser out of the fat suit, but I’ll also take Jake Sully. The barber definitely did not mean Fraser in the fat suit. Anyway, Brendan and I forged an unbreakable bond that day.
That being said, Austin Butler is totally winning Best Actor. Check out Gold Derby today:
I think Austin Butler will ultimately win Best Actor by taking advantage of Colin Farrell’s lingering presence in the race. The combined presence of Fraser and Farrell rendered huge, and usually decisive, chunks of the voting pool moot. A shake up like that is more exciting than a Brendan Fraser win. That means new voices are taking their places at the table. If only the new group could retroactively fix past wrongs. How did the Social Network not win???
But I still want Fraser to win Best Actor. He brought a poorly written script containing third grade level dialogue to life. He’s that good. Very few actors still have that “It Factor,” but Fraser charms us with ease in the Whale. I think my barber was right: “It’s in the eyes.”
But ya, Butler wins even though it’s not even the best Elvis performance on film (Bruce Campbell, please stand up).
Another Elvis portrayal that I think is in the conversation was Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's Elvis movie from 1979. It's not a great movie, but Russell is great in it, and it was the start of the Carpenter-Russell partnership. Without that movie, we may not have gotten Escape From New York, The Thing or Big Trouble in Little China.
But honestly, even though it's a basic and boring take, Austin Butler probably is best portrayal of Elvis on film. I didn't love that movie either, but he was great.
Oh man, I think you should dress up as Rick O’Connell, Brendan Fraser’s character from The Mummy movies for Halloween this year. With the suspenders and the scarf. If you do, I could go as Imhotep.