not too many people know who james whale is , but it's a safe bet that a good chunk of them have seen his movies . if we are to believe the semi- biographical gods and monsters , whale would have wanted it to be that way . this is an insightful , haunting exploration of the last days of the frankenstein and bride of frankenstein director , and it is notable for introducing one of the first complicated gay characters in a hollywood movie . gods and monsters has no interest in being a biopic of whale's life because it tracks only the final few days of his life , and it's probably a better movie for it . it's focus is on whale's ( ian mckellen ) untraditional and deceptive lust for heterosexual gardener clayton boone ( brendan fraser ) . it begins with whale ( a fairly talented artist , aside from being a director ) asking boone to " sit for him , " ( pose for a portrait ) . at first , boone doesn't realize that whale is gay and grows fascinated with the old man . when he does discover whale's sexual orientation from his dedicated and protective maid ( lynn redgrave ) , he is frightened , refusing to sit for the guy . but he comes back , only to storm out again , disgusted with whale's " locker room talk . " boone returns yet another time , after whale promises to tone down the aforementioned " locker room talk , " and finds their platonic relationship to be strengthening . meanwhile , jimmy himself is suffering from hallucinations and mental attacks as a result of his stroke not long ago . his ailment leads to desperation and depression , which build to the point where he is forced to ask boone for an incredulously big favor . what is perhaps most sensational about gods and monsters is brendan fraser's bravura performance ; up until seeing this film i intensely disliked the young actor because of his tendency to ruin the movies he is in ( blast from the past , for example ) . i was surprised how expressive an actor he proved himself to be here . this is impressive because his character's dialogue is minimal , with mckellan doing most of the talking . that requires fraser to act through body language ; a difficult skill to master , but something he proves capable of doing well . this is not to ignore mckellan's oscar nominated turn . he earned that nomination with his touching performance here ( although , at the risk of sounding like a philistine , i would have chosen his performance as the nazi in apt pupil for the nomination ) ; an understated , compelling gem . whale dreaded being remembered solely for his work in the hollywood horror genre , and he thought hollywood to be the equivalent of a battlefield . he rejoiced in being free from it , only reluctantly going to receptions with fellow movie people . in the end , perhaps , it is what killed him : the memories of hollywood and war blending together to form a living nightmare . ? 1999 eugene novikov&#137 ;
