The last days of Frankenstein director James Whale (Ian McKellen) are explored.The focus on homosexuality is perhaps what earned this film an Oscar, but it seems a bit forced. I have understood elsewhere that Whale was not someone who made his sexuality the issue, although here he seems to have it front and center. Is it fair to put him in a story where he seduces awkward and annoying young men? Why is this the plot? I really could have wanted any actor except Jack Plotnick. A dorky journalist who only wants to know about horror films is bad enough, but then to make him so ridiculous? How would such a person ever have even gotten to Whale's gate? Brendan Fraser does a surprisingly good job here. Not known for his acting chops, I am a bit surprised that he was cast. But he does alright.

This superb biographical film of the B-movie director James Whale (Frankenstein 1931, Bride of Frankenstein 1935, The Invisible Man 1933 and Show Boat 1936) has been put on my shelf for many years after my first viewing almost 10 years ago. I have no background information about the director and his works neither, but the worldly- famous Frankenstein franchise has no international barrier here, the interlinked amalgamation of the monster in his film and the director's own later years is a magic maneuver, which includes the identity reversal of the creator and the monster, its sociological overtone reflects vividly in our epoch. The strong cast is the cornerstone of the film, Ian McKellen finally has achieved the performance of his lifetime, he has devoted himself whole-heartedly as the wrenched director on his preordained destiny and emancipated an empowering dominance all over his scenes, his skillful theatre experience enhances both the pathos and the momentum of his tragic fate, which come so strong as to leave me unprepared for an emotional thrust. Brendan Fraser as the opposite drop-dead gorgeous gardener, exudes an angelic attractiveness which has lost in all his subsequent films. Alongside with Sir McKellen, the late Lynn Redgrave also received her second Oscar nomination for her role, the trustworthy maid who annotates the most sophisticated human emotion mixed with unrequited passion, admiration, jealousy, desperation and many others from a rather plain character, which is a textbook epitome of interpretation a supporting role. Another linchpin of the film lies firmly in its Oscar-winning script, full of witty remarks which could be a tug-of-war between sardonicism and sympathy, by comparison Bill Condon's directional capacity is being overshadowed. Anyway, Gods & Monsters has become one of my all-time favorite now.

"Gods and Monsters" is the beautifully acted and somewhat fictionalized story of director James Whale (Ian McKellan) as he faces the end of his life. The openly gay Whale was the director of some of the great horror films: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Old Dark House, as well as the definitive Showboat, and one of my favorites, the bizarre Remember Last Night? (which no one in the movie does, by the way). After a debacle over the film The Road Back, his studio thrust him into directing B movies, and by 1941, his career was over. After that, Whale developed a love of painting and directed in theater, where he had started in the '20s.The film begins in 1957, the last year of Whale's life, after he has suffered a series of strokes. In the movie, his only companion is his housekeeper (Lynn Redgrave). (In real life, he was living with the much younger Pierre Foegel, whom he had met in France.) Faced with diminishing mental faculties and unwanted flashbacks from his past, Whale develops a sometimes uneasy friendship with his gardener, Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser). He asks Clayton to pose for him, and while Clayton does, Whale pours his heart out to him. Some of it is too much for the straight Clay, but over time, the two men bond. Each gets something from the other. But Whale will ultimately want something astounding from his new friend.This a complex film, well directed and written by Bill Condon, who adapted the novel The Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram. Whale attempts to create his own Frankenstein monster, in a sense, in Clay, and the stunning images near the end of the film which take place during Clay's dream sequence point this up. The film also demonstrates the loneliness and deterioration of old age, as well as the fear that goes along with it.The cast is nothing short of magnificent, with phenomenal performances by the three leads: McKellan, Fraser, and Redgrave. The late, always excellent David Dukes plays David Lewis, Whale's ex-lover and still friend; Jack Betts and Rosalind Ayres are well made up and vocally correct as Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester, respectively.Gods and Monsters is a sometimes dark, always thought-provoking film about old age, taking stock at the end of life, and the gods and monsters within each one of us.

Ian McKellen gives a triumphant performance as film director James Whale in this biopic about Whale's later years.The film focuses specifically on Whale's mental and emotional struggles with his own homosexuality and his obsession with a young hunk of beefcake, played by Brendan Fraser. But the most interesting part of the movie for me were the glimpses of old Hollywood peppered throughout, including appearances by George Cukor and Elsa Lanchester, and the incorporation of Whale's best-known film, "Frankenstein."Director Bill Condon won an Oscar for the film's screenplay, and McKellen and Lynn Redgrave, who makes much of a teensy-tiny role as Whale's maid, received nominations.Grade: A