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"Gods and Monsters" is a look at a fictional friendship that famed filmmaker James Whale had in his final days with his gardener(played very well by Brendan Fraser).

The film starts off with Whale in poor health, suffering from strokes and looking as if his remaining days are few in number. What the film does so interestingly here is portray his declining health and the ties between that and the memories of his past. The film has an excellent structure here, showing these moments as memories that are slowly slipping away and although the budget on this film probably kept it from doing much more than slight moments, these moments, showing an unhappy childhood, are effective in their simplicity. Giant sets are not needed to portray the greater concepts and ideas such as the ones about life that this film tries to get across.

What the center of the film is though, are the conversations between Whale and Boone(Fraser). At first, there doesn't seem to be much to the intentions that Whale has for Boone, but as the story progresses, the relationship moves into Whale guiding the young man through his history and life. Gradually, Boone begins to appreciate Whale for who he is, as well.


Performances by Brendan Fraser and Ian McKellen are both outstanding, especially McKellen, who was nominated and also recieved many awards for his performance. Also on hand is Lynn Redgrave, in a wonderful performance as the housekeeper who takes care of Whale. "Gods and Monsters" is a riveting look at one of Hollywood's great filmmakers and I think that it's a well-done portrait, full of great performances and solid direction.

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