Yikes, but this second gay-themed outing for Brendan Fraser could hardly be more different from his 1998 "Gods and Monsters" one. Here his is the critically obese "Charlie" who has grown to a size where his health is in tatters and he has virtually no mobility as he regularly consumes two large pizzas for dinner and two great meatball subs for lunch. We learn quite quickly a little of what initially drove this man to this level of despair and as things begin to look terminal, we share his aspirations to reconcile with his daughter whom he left eight years earlier to be with his gay lover "Allan". Now for all I thought Fraser was superb in this film, I found Sadie Sink's performance as the truly selfish, conniving and odious daughter "Ellie" (upon whom he rather dotes) stole this for me. At times I really did want to shoot her! Ty Simpkins also does well as the well meaning god-squadder who finds his association with this dysfunctional family helps open his eyes too. Hong Chau performs well as his long suffering friend/nurse/confidante "Liz", and as mortality looms the characters are drawn into an increasingly angry, hostile environment that is full of bitterness, rancour and regret certainly, but maybe - just maybe - the slightest hint of reconciliation. Fraser will never deliver another performance like this again. Sure, his size and generally slothful demeanour are so far from the hale-fellow-well-met series of characters we have seen thus far in his career that they are bound to have an effect. His acting, though, is honest and emotional. His character is torn and distraught and he conveys that potently, especially in the scenes with his obnoxious daughter. The plot has an inevitability to it, which doesn't usually work so well for me - but here, it helps focus on the few interlinked stories and characters allowing little room for distraction. It's not without it's humour now and again, either. I've deliberately avoided reading about how he got to that size - somehow, knowing might spoil what is undoubtedly a tour de force from both him and Miss Sink. Brave and uncompromising - well worth a watch.
