Brendan Fraser's role in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale has garnered significant praise, but Blast from the Past, one of his most underrated '90s performances, is actually his most important role. Released in 1999, the movie tells the tale of the appropriately named Adam, a man who leaves his father's bomb shelter for the first time when he's 35 years old and tries to make sense of the modern world. Unlike his parents, who spent decades fearing the radioactive effects of nuclear war, Adam is eager to tackle the challenges above, however frightening they might be.
The Whale is controversial despite Fraser's comeback. Still, Blast from the Past received very little attention one way or the other upon its release, obscuring a multi-faceted performance that is every bit as powerful as Fraser's deeply unhappy Charlie. Like a lot of Fraser's movies in the '90s–like Encino Man, Airheads, and George of the Jungle–Blast from the Past contains a lot of humor to counteract some of its more dramatic elements, making it seem less prestigious than the sorts of movies Fraser stars in now. With The Whale's release and Fraser's filmography coming back into the spotlight, Blast from the Past deserves another look.
Blast From The Past Contains Fraser's Most Emotional Role
Fraser's performance in The Whale is very good, but the emotional undercurrent of the performance is grounded in deep sadness and regret, whereas Blast from the Past allows Fraser to navigate a full gamut of feelings. In The Whale, Charlie's situation as a 600-pound man confined to his apartment makes his world small and confining (not unlike Adam's when he lives solely in his father's bomb shelter). The joy he experiences comes from some online activity and visits from Ellie (Sadie Sink) and Liz (Hong Chau). Adam, by contrast, has to navigate the complexity of the world by himself until Eve (Alicia Silverstone) helps him discover friendship and love.
Fraser's transformation for The Whale is an incredible feat, but lost in a different era, with a new set of customs and rules, he transforms just as much into a man out of time. As Adam, he looks for joy in everything around him, including the most impoverished corners of Los Angeles, and vacillates between melancholy and exuberance. Fraser conveys Adam's soulfulness as a survivor of a traumatic global event without it coming across as goofy. Living through what Adam felt were his end of days in the '60s makes him the perfect mascot for never taking any of life's small pleasures for granted.
The Whale Hides Fraser's Biggest Gifts
Even though The Whale is the beginning of Fraser's comeback, it conceals his greatest gifts: his physicality and charm. Throughout his career, Fraser has always been an incredibly physical actor in movies like George of the Jungle and The Mummy, with a disarming charm that helps him convey empathy and garner sympathy from audiences. Under the weight of The Whale's expectations and prosthetics, it's difficult to see Fraser at his most earnest and mobile, and there aren't enough opportunities to see the spark of charisma that made him such a major star.
Blast from the Past gives Fraser the story that lets him fully explore the complexities of human emotion while tapping into all the physical charm he possessed prior to almost dying making The Mummy. Watching Adam dance in the rain towards the end of the movie, blissful and content, is a perfect example of how important the role is in Fraser's career. Both it and The Whale feature men that possess a certain innocence about the world and an eagerness to see the beauty in it, but only one of them actually depicts that beauty.