''Whale Music'' is a 1994 Canadian

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by Richard J. Lewis and starring

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American–Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, as well as for his work as a character actor in many films and television programs. Personal lif ...

Cyndy Preston Cynthia Preston, sometimes credited as Cyndy Preston (born May 18, 1968), is a Canadian actress. Life and career Preston was born in Toronto, Ontario. She made her screen debut in the 1986 television film ''Miles to Go...'' playing Jill Clayburgh ...

, and

Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta. Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...

. It is based on the comic novel of the same name by Paul Quarrington, who also wrote the screenplay. The film premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

The film stars

as Desmond Howl, a former

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

star who has lived in seclusion in a seaside mansion since the death of his brother Danny (

) in a car accident. Howl spends his time composing a symphonic masterpiece for the

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s who congregate in the ocean near his property. His reason for this is revealed in the title of one of his songs, "Have You Seen My Brother?" — Danny died by losing control of his car and driving off a cliff into the ocean. One day, however, Howl awakens to find Claire (

), a mysterious young woman, in his living room. Although Howl's world is disrupted, Claire ends up inspiring him to complete the symphony, to write his first great pop song in years, and to begin seeking connections with people again. The character of Desmond Howl is based largely on Brian Wilson. The cast also includes

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian film and television actor. He was best known as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle in ''Twin Peaks'', for his roles in the films '' The Day After Tomorrow'', ''Adoration'', '' S ...

Jennifer Dale Jennifer Ciurluini (born January 16, 1956 in Toronto), known professionally as Jennifer Dale, is a Canadian actress. Biography She is the sister of Canadian actress Cynthia Dale. From 1980 to 1986 she was married to Robert Lantos; they have t ...

, Jim Byrnes, and Quarrington in a cameo appearance as a bartender.

Soundtrack

Music for the film was written by

Rheostatics Rheostatics are a Canadian indie rock band. They were formed in 1978, and actively performed from 1980 until disbanding in 2007. After a number of reunion performances at special events, Rheostatics reformed in late 2016, introducing new songs a ...

and released on the soundtrack album '' Music from the Motion Picture Whale Music''. The song "Claire" was a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit for the band in 1995. Quarrington had chosen the Rheostatics to compose the soundtrack because he had liked their 1992 album '' Whale Music'', which was itself inspired by Quarrington's novel.

Reception

The film opened in eight Canadian theaters on November 4, 1994 and grossed almost $20,000 in its opening week. It went on to gross $39,129.

Awards

References

External links

''Whale Music''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

1994 films 1994 comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama films English-language Canadian films 1990s English-language films Films based on Canadian novels Canadian rock music films Films directed by Richard J. Lewis 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub