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Gods and Monsters Movie Review

Gods and Monsters is a 1998 biographical drama film directed by Bill Condon and starring Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser and Lynn Redgrave. It’s such a strong biopic.

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“My life is a game of strip poker. Want to play?“

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James Whale, a famous Hollywood filmmaker, leads an unsettled life after retirement as memories of his past haunt him. He strikes a relationship with his gardener and the two start this strange, but eventually impactful friendship. First off, I am not the biggest fan of biopics as most are conventional in structure, approach and filmmaking. Imagine my surprise, then, that this one I genuinely adored. In fact, it’s not just great, but it’s one of the best such films of all time.

This is a perfect film for film enthusiasts first and foremost while also appealing to gay men in particular. James Whale was such a fantastic subject for a film and it is lovely that he got one as he deserved it – his horror movie output truly is iconic. This film does something different by actually eschewing the regular straightforward structure in favor of a more unconventional approach that includes flashbacks, reminiscences and mental breakdowns from the protagonist. The flashbacks uniformly worked as they weren’t fully formed scenes, but rather bright and short nostalgic reminiscences of the past that felt extremely realistic and relatable to anybody who has ever had those feelings, which is all of us.

But the highlight of the film is the examination of Whale’s sexuality and how it impacted his career in Hollywood. He was one of the few openly gay men in that period, which seemingly did not affect his life, but the film cleverly posits the importance of living your life to the fullest and the limitations of life constricted by responsibilities and trying to appeal to others. All of these themes are so subtly explored in that superbly executed social gathering sequence. That feeling of feeling out of place as a gay man in the wider society is what this movie got so well.

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That authenticity certainly can be traced back to both the director and actor being gay themselves. This surely is one of Bill Condon’s best movies as he would rarely ever approach this level of quality later in his career. But special praise must be bestowed to the one and only Ian McKellen, who was just perfectly cast as the elderly James Whale. He has many similarities with the man he was playing, which lent to that aforementioned authenticity.

The resulting performance is a brilliant one. The fact that he lost an Oscar to Roberto Benigni for a much lesser work is mind-blowing and it’s one of the worst decisions by the Academy in that category. McKellen delivered his career-best turn here, being confident, believable and layered throughout. Whether being mysterious and intriguing or funny and pathetic, he delivered all of those beats effortlessly in such a tour de force performance.

But others in this stellar cast did not trail too behind. Lynn Redgrave was phenomenal as his trusted servant and their relationship was both amusing and deeply emotional toward the end. Redgrave was incredibly memorable in this very well written role and the fact that she also lost an Oscar and to a much lesser performance is infuriating to me.

Brendan Fraser was also surprisingly strong in what might be his best performance as well. He was also superbly cast as this incredibly good-looking young man whom obviously Whale would find extremely attractive. Fraser exuded not just the sexuality of the character well, but also the innocence and the feeling of being lost, which certainly Clayton embodies.

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Gods and Monsters is at its best when examining the dynamic between these two men that is actually more complex than initially thought as Clayton finds in Whale a father figure of sorts and an inspiring, intriguing storyteller. I loved everything about their relationship and how unconventional it seemed. The movie also featured a witty playfulness that was perfect for this material and Whale as a person while contrasting that light tone so well with the darker content – his mental issues and eventual decline and suicide. The ending was heartbreaking and so emotionally effective.