MovieChat Forums > Gods and Monsters (1998) Discussion > Brendan Frasier did a horrible job.

Brendan Frasier did a horrible job.

posted 19 years ago by unlimiteddevotion
61 replies | jump to latest

Watch early on when he gets in the fight with the waitress in the parking lot. The acting is laughable and ruined the movie from then on. Frasier sounded like a 10 year old doing a school play. Granted it was poorly written as well, but that take was just unacceptable. While it never gets quite so bad again, another moment where Frasier completely fails to sell the emotion is when he snaps at Whale and calls him a fairy. The lines are badly delivered and throughout the movie he jumps awkwardly from one mood to another; no fluidity, no characterization, no acting even. Its just Brendan Frasier.

The writing was no treat either. Clayton Boone was a non-character. His actions are so predictable. After an uncomfortable conversation with Whale, Boone must return to the bar and reassert his manhood. Cut to cliche standing sex scene, three pumps, cut, cigarette. This was total amateur work. In the final scene the angle of the water is so obviously a hose that it doesn't for an instant look like rain. The only saving grace in this film was watching Ian McKellen perform, as he is, quite clearly, a fabulous actor. Oh, and Lynn Redgrave was lovely as Hanna.

Please watch it again with a critical eye and look at the parts I mentioned before leaping to the defense. This was certainly not the best picture of the year.

[–] hopesfrenzy 18 years ago

i thought this was just as good a performance as The Quiet American. he is an amazing actor with a lot of power to take on many different roles.

[–] rayrads 18 years ago

It's Brendan Fraser dumbass

[–] fm19 18 years ago

I could not agree more.

Actually after seeing the movie I entered this website expecting to find such opinion because Clayton Boone as a charcter failed to convece me and looked as if he was not thought much of when the film is written.

But while the acting was horrible(especially against a great performance from Allan Maclean) but in fairnes he was not given much to work with in terms of his charcter.

[–] Lemmingrocker1311 18 years ago

i don't think he was fantastic but i think that's the way his character was suppose to perceived as a dumb arse homophob. Clayton is suppose to be perceived as the monster in this film.

Many people are saying that he wasn't directed very well, i wouldn't agree with that because if you watch the frankenstein films a couple of time you can see some of the shots in gods and monsters. Such as the the scene when Clayton appears in the door of whale's study its very much like the scene in bride of frankenstein where the monster appears in the doorway of the blind man's house. Throughout the film Whale's house is decorated in flowers if you noticed Frankenstein's mansion in both the frankenstein movies directed by Whale you notice the similarities.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] cokramer 18 years ago

A horrible job? C'mon. Just his performance in the confrontational sequence with McKellan at the end of the film makes it better than a horrible job. The epiphany that comes from it and what happens after this confrontation makes complete sense to anybody with half a brain, mind or heart. And Fraser doesn't get in the way of the believability of this, in fact, he did more than his fair share of getting this across to the audience. I think too many people here who criticized Fraser's performance (for the reasons they state) have watched too many theatrical or really Hollywood performances to understand or recall how real people behave and act in "real" life (especially in the time and setting of this film). Fraser's character's awkwardness and then his coming to terms with himself and others (ie. McKellan's character and maybe even women, marriage, and those in his life, mainly the effed-up father-figure that towers over Clayton's entire psyche and his idea of what a real "man" is) are all brought out in this film through a fairly convincing and much understated performance by Fraser. This is a character who was figuratively blind (and maybe even lonely in a world of machismo pretexts and pretenses) and who's "hesitatingly" trying to figure things out for himself after he meets Whale. They both finally understand one another at the end, even though Whale is half-insane with his memories/fantasy flashbacks by then.

No, Fraser did not do a horrible job. He was definitely cast with the idea of what his character should be and then becomes (or rather refinds in himself through his "somewhat" crazy experience with Whale and the exorcism of the influence of the horrible father-figure, which they both share, strangely enough). That is they finally understand one another. Neither of them are really Gods or Monsters. They're just human beings. Whale's tragedy allows Clayton to go on with his life, to separate the crap from what's "real" in life.

[–] allisonhassell 17 years ago

1. I disagree. I think Brendan did a fabulous job. He's a classically trained actor. He's quite versatile.
2. It's FRASER. Pronounced "Fray-zer", not "Fray-sur" or Fray-sier". Fraser, not Fraiser. It's not pronounced like the TV show.

[–] redheadedhonni89 17 years ago

It's F-R-A-S-E-R!

And he didn't do a horrible job, he's a great actor.

Kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them

[–] rbddsl-1 17 years ago

I couldn't disagree with you more. This is the role that made me a fan of Fraser. He did an exceptional job in the role of "Clayton Boone" as did Ian McKellen as "James Whale". A tremendous film..... with an outstanding cast, that really brought their characters to life.