Whale Music (1994)

Directed by Richard J Lewis; produced by Steven Demure and Raymond Massey

Desmond Howl (Maury Chaykin) is a once-famous rock performer turned recluse, living alone in his semi-derelict mansion on the west coast. Not having published any music for nine years, he devotes his time to drinking, remembering his dead brother, Danny (Paul Gross), and composing a symphony based on the songs of whales. His dead-end life is disrupted, however, by Claire (Cyndy Preston), a teenaged run-away and petty criminal. Her presence forces Desmond to confront not just his past, but his future, with his precarious mental state in the balance.

An entertaining drama, with elements of comedy, Whale Music benefits immensely from the acting, especially that of Chaykin, who usually captures an audience’s attention as a supporting player; here, he is the unlikely lead. Something I’ve noticed about this engaging actor (who died relatively young, on his sixty-first birthday) is that he is often sympathetic, even in unsympathetic roles. He makes Desmond a frustrating person, but very likeable, a man who has suffered from loving too well, rather than wisely.

Preston does very well as Claire, Desmond’s foil, a character very grounded in reality. She too must create a sympathetic person from someone who might not easily hold the viewer’s warmth. The supporting characters are less defined, but are needed mainly for how they affect the two leads. Nonetheless, Gross succeeds as someone who is entirely derived from Des’s memories, and so the performance must be both inconsistent and constant.

The writing both helps and hinders Whale Music. From an award-winning novel by Paul Quarrington (who has a cameo as a bar-tender in a strip club), the movie was adapted by the author and the director. The dialogue is good, and the revelations that both the characters and the audience experience are well-handled. But the overall plot may be predictable, and the ending is weak, as if the writers seemed uncertain as to from what direction the resolution should come. A warning should be given, as well, as to the swearing and nudity used in the film.

One aspect of the movie that is commendable is that it makes little of Desmond’s weight. When Chaykin portrayed Nero Wolfe in an excellent but, alas, short-lived tv series, the character was referred to as weighing a seventh of a ton. Yet Chaykin is routinely shown in Whale Music in no more than swimming trunks - often taking a ‘refreshing dip’ in his debris-filled pool - and only a couple of insults refer to his size. His girth is, nonetheless, a factor in his affinity for whales, and it gives pathos to his isolation. The use of less-than-usual-looking lead actors is, I think, an advantage of cinema for smaller markets, such as Canada, or the independent-movie industry in the U.S.

Ironically, while the music in the movie is significant in that it is being composed by Desmond, the pop songs that made him and Danny famous - and rich - are rather bland. This is, perhaps, not unrealistic. The soundtrack was derived in a round-about manner. The band responsible for it, the Rheostatics, were inspired by the book Whale Music to produce their identically-named album. This was heard by Quarrington when the book was being adapted, and so was used in the film.

All told, Whale Music should be seen for the warm and entertaining performance by Chaykin, complimented by that of Preston, and for (the majority of) the writing, a story of rescue and redemption by music and love.