Movie Review: The Ghost and the Whale – Wasted Potential

Genre: Mystery

Director: James Gaudioso, Anthony Gaudioso

Cast: Maurice Benard, James Gaudioso, Anthony Gaudioso, Monica Keena, Jonathan Pryce, Ashlynn Yennie, Madeleine Hamer, and Tippi Hedren

Studio: MarVista Entertainment

Runtime: 105 Minutes

Release: On Digital HD and VOD May 17, 2016.

Rated: NR

Rating ★★★★★

The Ghost and The Whale is a mystery that tells the tale of Joseph Hawthorne (Maurice Bernard), who went out to sea with his wife Annabel Lee (Madeleine Hamer) and returned alone. While Joseph claims a whale killed Annabel, people believe he’s responsible for her death due to his mental instability and his inability to remember exactly what happened. As Joseph’s mental state deteriorates, his wife’s brother Jack (Anthony Gaudioso) is released from prison and begins to plot his revenge. Will Joseph ever remember what happened that fateful day or will Jack kill him before the truth is revealed?

As the end credits rolled for The Ghost and the Whale, I felt relieved. After suffering through what seemed like an eternity, I was never so glad to see them. I found myself asking, “What happened? How could a film take an interesting premise and smother it with such poor execution?”

Maurice Benard as Joseph

The biggest sin of the film is that it’s boring. There is no suspense, nor is there a sense of mystery or intrigue. Nothing seems to happen throughout most of the movie’s runtime There’s no sense of importance to anything and the audience isn’t given any reason to care about what’s going on. When The Ghost and the Whale reaches its climax and the truth is revealed, it feels no different than any other revelation that happened earlier in the movie.

The film’s sound mixing is truly atrocious. Some scenes are oddly silent and feel like they’re missing sound effects. This is most evident in the few fight scenes that occur during The Ghost and the Whale. Every punch and kick lacks any impact because it sounds like light tapping rather than actual fighting. The editing is of equal quality, with scenes abruptly ending and beginning to the point that the film feels as if it’s skipping to random points.

Benard is easily the best part of the film; even so, his acting is serviceable, at best. He does seem like he’s trying with the material he was given and helps elevates his character from being completely unlikable. If only the same could be said for the acting of the rest of the cast, who are all wooden. The worst offender, unfortunately, is Gaudioso as Jack. He just mumbles his way throughout the movie in an attempt to sound evil but comes across as a cartoon instead. I found myself laughing over just how ridiculous he is in the scenes

Anthony Gaudioso as Jack

where he tries to be threatening.

There’s a subplot involving journalist Ed Hale (James Gaudioso), who is investigating Annabel’s death. He gets caught up with Jack’s plot for revenge, which serves no real purpose outside of padding out the runtime. This entire storyline could have easily been removed and the story would have played out the same. Hale adds nothing to the film outside of just making the experience longer than it has to be.

The Ghost and the Whale is not a good film, by any means. The film has a promising plot but it is wasted with poor direction, acting, and editing. The Ghost and the Whale should be left to be lost at sea along with Annabel Lee.

For more on the film, go to http://www.theghostandthewhale.com

Follow on Twitter at @GhostWhaleMovie

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Dustin Kogler

Professional amateur movie watcher. Dustin is a laid-back nerd who loves discussing pop culture. He loves listening to 80s music, playing video games and watching netflix all day. He's pretty sarcastic and if you tell him your favorite movie he can tell you why you're wrong.