The Ghost and the Whale

At the core of the film is an interesting mystery: Did Joseph Hawthorne kill his wife? He's a troubled guy, after all, off his meds and struggling to remember the day she disappeared. It's easy to believe he definitely did crime, and it's easy to believe he definitely didn't. That's where the fun of the film's earliest minutes lies.

The best moments in this film, though, are those involving the character Jack. He generates so much suspense, oh my god. He's eerie from the moment he appears squeezing the spike on a barbed wire fence, and then just fun-to-watch psychotic as he conducts a revenge mission.

He's one of those characters you can't wait to see on screen again, but then when he appears, you kind of dread it because you know everyone is in danger. There's a scene with him and his family in a park that's incredibly intense, evil, and well-performed. My heartrate jacked so high I must've burned 100 calories.

Another highlight includes Dusty Lee, Jack's sister. She's believably creepy and in a lot of the film's most fun scenes. Just a nice spark to Jack's flame. Also, shoutout to poor Ed Hale, who just wants to write an interesting story for the newspaper and ends up having, like, the worst two weeks ever.

Enjoyed the film. The characters speak a lot of the subtext, and some of the relationships would've benefitted from a little more screen time and room to develop, but when the 100 minutes were all over, I was glad I took the journey.

I literally have no idea what the other reviewer was talking about. I saw this gem at the WGA and it received a standing ovation of over 500 people. It is an exceptional film with intelligent characters and an intricately woven story that demands attention rather than the all too often movie goer gives. This is an exceptional important film which shines a light on the mental health field and in particular Bipolar disorder. After his wife goes missing during a whale watching expedition a forlorn Joseph Hawthorne believed to be innocent by half the town and vilified by the other half becomes a self repressed reclusive and goes off his stabilizing medication of Lithium. A year later a reporter with a resume but little knowledge of the intricacies of a small town decides to get the skinny of what actually took place. At the same time the ill fated brides brother returns from a 10 year stint in a state facility for manslaughter, just in time to exact his revenge on the man he feels robbed him of his baby sister. This is an intelligent film with demanding performances by Anthony Gaudioso as Jack Lee, coincidently Gaudioso, also wrote, directed and produced the piece, no small feat. The incomparable Jonathan Pryce appears as the films narrator and the complicated ID of our protagonist Joseph Hawthorne (Benard) Films like this are tricky and this film no doubt is good, actually better than good as it weaves three complex story lines into one creating a Hitchcockian cat and mouse between the reporter, Jack Lee, (Annabelle Lee's brother) and its central protagonist. This is not an easy story again and a bit high brow without the pretentiousness one might assume. It's only shortcomings are that of it's restrictive budget. Shot only on750k the film for at least this view was a winner. The only restriction is the films budget, a mere 750k and for that the filmmakers have a winner.

The Gaudioso Twins have captured this movie's story line and presented it in such a way as to keep your interest until the very end. This dynamic team of brothers will become tomorrow's Ron Howard. They have a vision and the talent to succeed writing, directing and starring in their chosen profession. Given the chance theirs will be a name to remember.

Loved the message of the movie. Mental health is not addressed enough in this country. Using an actor who suffers from bi polar in real life was ingenious. I really felt the pain of the character. Tippi Hedren is from one of my favorite movies so I love seeing her. This is definitely worth renting and keep an open mind when watching it.

This film tells the story of a journalist, who goes to a small town to cover a story of a man with bipolar disorder, who is believed to have done something which led to the death of his wife in the sea.

From the description, I thought the film would be an introspective film about a tormented man. In reality, the film is about a group of violent and severely disturbed townsmen who uses every means possible to get their way. The violence is graphic and disturbing. The bipolar man serves only as a vehicle to bring out the violence in the plot. There is little ghost or whale scene, so don't expect these based on the title. After watching the film, I feel disturbed and unsettled.