Rating: 
Summary: loved it, despite the ending!
Review: Ian McKellen is a god! He was able to act in a way that made his character (James Whale) funny, tragic, vulnerable and alluring all at the same time! Brendan Fraser was great too! Yo be honest, I was surprised that he was able to play his conflicted character (Clayton Boone) so well after seeing him in all those silly-stupid movies he's done like George of the Jungle and Blast From the Past.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing special
Review: James Whale is an old, deceprit man. He has lived a life of fame, thanks to his direction of the first two Frankenstein movies. When Whale begins trying to sketch his new gardener, Clay Boone, memories of his past begin to flood his mind. Boone eventually finds out that Whale is homosexual. While this makes him uneasy, he returns over and over again. The film follows their strange relationship.
One of the problems I have with this movie is the fact that it focuses entirely on Whale's sexual preference. Are viewers not supposed to care about anything else besides his homosexuality? Because I do.
Also, the relationship between Boone and Whale is a perpetually bizarre one. Despite how uncomfortable he sometimes becomes when in Whale's presence, Boone cannot keep himself away. I found it quite unbelievable.
Lastly, this movie is incredibly monotonous. Nothing really interesting occurs until the last thirty minutes.
Near the end, James asks Clay, "Do you believe people come into our lives for a purpose?" Well, I believe that all films should have a purpose, whether that be to make people laugh, cry, or ponder. This one simply doesn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: I often Buy having not seen a movie, especially when the reviews are glowing. Thankfully, I rented this first. I just don't see what was so special about this movie that was not family friendly, boring and drifted. My tastes go more for the movie that i can watch with my large family. This one doesn't qualify. Moreover, I don't see any of the usual devises that make you sit back and say, "wow, well written". I only rented this because of the academy award. I don't agree that it should have gotten the award over some of its worthy competitors. Rent it first as I did, maybe you'll agree with the professional reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic satire is dead
Review: Tom Lehrer once said that political satire died the day Henry Kissinger was given the Nobel Peace Prize. Thus it is with cinematic satire as this film won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. There is no story of any worth here. It adds nothing to our understanding of the human condition (which other reviewers seem to imply is where its value lies) per se, it is merely a series of sketches in search of a coherent theme which fails qua entertainment. McKellan and Redgrave do their best, but with such prosaic material to work off they cannot save a very boring film whose raison d'etre escapes the ever increasing somnolent viewer. That it won an Oscar for the screenplay says far more about the Academy's often appalling decisions than anything else. Perhaps, like the American Presidency, lobby money can buy anything.
Rating: 
Summary: scary when you really think about it
Review: I suppose we'll never really know exactly what happened when Mr. Jimmy killed himself in the pool. This movie's theory is he wanted his gardener to become his "Monster" and kill him in a rage to relieve him of his misery is an interesting twist and most uncomfortable. I believe the screen play is more thought provoking than anything else. Neither of the main characters Mr. Jimmy or Clay Boon come off as perfect people. While there is something to dispise in each one of these men, in the end we also see something redeeming. I think many of the negative reviews come from the fact that people expect Brendan Frazier (Clay Boon) to always be an action hero such as in the recent version of The Mummy and maybe some people were expecting a lot more action and thrills (being based on a Frankenstein theme). The action here is what's going on in Mr. Jimmy's head. When you think about his entire life, there's more action to fill a life time than most people see in their meger little lives. So I recommend viewing this film as thought provoking (don't expect Brendan to be swinging throught the trees)with good acting by McKellam (Mr. Jimmy) and supporting acting by Lynn Redgrave (Hanah). Also, there's a very good music score, scenery, props etc. to make the time and place feel right and real. Maybe watching such classic films as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Show Boat will be good for historical background on this one.
Rating:
Summary: The man behind the curtain
Review: An elegiac meditation on the last days of director James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE OLD DARK HOUSE), found dead in 1957 in his own Hollywood swimming pool under mysterious circumstances, this gentle rumination on what makes life worth living is driven by two exceptional performances. Handsome, mad-at-the-world ex-Marine Clay Boone (Brendan Fraser) is hired to do yard work for the eccentric, 61-year-old English expatriate Whale (Ian McKellen), who has outlived his career, his social set, many of his intimates and, most importantly, his era. The elegant, soignée film folk of his glory days have been supplanted by crass parvenus, horror movies have degenerated into I Was a Teenage... tripe, and Whale's arch, European-infected sensibilities -- once the height of sophistication -- seem mannered and slightly silly. And on top of all that, he's drowning in a flood of memories unleashed by a recent stroke: His mind racing, he can't sleep or concentrate; even his lifelong passion for painting is compromised. That doesn't stop him from asking the well-developed Clay to model, and the two develop a contentious friendship: Clay is intrigued by the older man and his glamorous past in the movie industry, put off by the fact that Whale is openly homosexual but flattered that someone so cultured sees him as interesting and special. Whale's interest in Clay goes beyond the obvious and has a faintly sinister edge: He's clearly manipulating the younger man, but it's not entirely apparent what the "Father of Frankenstein" (the title of the novel from which this movie is adapted) has in mind for his creation. Witty and beautifully textured, director Bill Condon's poignant fantasy is equally at home re-creating the making of Bride and spinning dream sequences in the style of Universal horror pictures, all rich shadows and pale fog.
Rating:
Summary: Almost 5 stars
Review: Excellent film. Beautifully written and acted. McKellen was robbed of an Oscar for his performance in this. He is both regal and heartbreaking. Frasier really surpised me as well. Given the opportunity, this guy can turn in a really great performance. Redgrave was good - but something seemed a little off with her. Otherwise it works beautifully as a character study, old hollywood tale and even a romance. Just great!
Rating:
Summary: Closets are hard to get out of without a door......
Review: This is an excellent film that vividly portrays the plight of many elder men in the gay community. The director-of-yesteryear character was played with Oscar-caliber acting (Ian was nominated). He plays the tormented director who remembers the lavish parties and the numerous young pretty boys who sought his attention, primarily due to his prestige in the film-making industry. As he lost this prestige, so did he misplace the affections of these pretty boys, until Fraser (the landscaper) is viewed at a distance and is seduced. Out of pity or respect, Fraser gives the ultimate gift of himself, but the sadness and hunger of the director takes advantage of the offer. An excellent portrait of a bridge between hetero- and homo-sexual urges. Fraser should have been nominated as well in this film. It is a drama to be viewed hopefully by those outside of the gay community as well as the younger members of the community caught up in the club-scene. It provides a reminder, to be kind to your elders and looks and prestige last only so long. What goes around, truly comes back.
Rating:
Summary: Sir Ian in his best role ever
Review: To be sure, there are a few clunky moments in "Gods and Monsters," a pretty low budget piece of historical fiction about the final days of Hollywood's legendary director of horror, James Whale. The clunky moments usually have Brendan Fraser in them. He's the new "yard man," Clayton Boone, at James Whale's estate, and he agrees to pose for Whale, played to a phosphorescent brilliance by Ian McKellen, because Whale tells Boone that his face has a remarkable architecture! Sure. It's McKellen at his horny old codger best. While Boone poses, Whale reminisces about everything from the trench Warfare of WWI where he was an officer to the days on the set of "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frakenstein." He includes tidbits about other Hollywood directors of the 1930's, particularly George Cukor and his wild Sunday pool parties to which only men where invited. Whale had been open about his homosexuality, and it's hinted that his openness may have been his undoing in hypocritical "Tinsel Town." The yard boy only "gets" Whale's sexual orientation when the loyal housemaid of twenty years tells Boon, "Mr. Whale is a bugger." Oh, says Boon, an ex-Marine: "A homo!" (Since the movie is set in 1957, the word "Gay" didn't exist.) I defy you to recognize Lynn Redgrave as the Hungarian housekeeper. She, like Ian, plays her part extraordinarily well. Two of Britian's greatest actors in the same film is reason enough to own this film. Since Whale has had a stroke, memories flood over him uncontrollably and he doesn't always take his medication that would tone these flashes down because it reduces the wit and brilliance that were his life-long trademark. Nonetheless, the superb screenplay and the savvy direction of Bill Condon, allow McKellen, a trained Shakesperian, to show why he is, without exception, the world's finest actor. In the greatest scene I may have ever watched in film, Whale and Boone go to a Cukor party where Princess Margaret is being feted. Cukor is standing by the princess in the receiving line, and Whale, impeccably dressed, introduces the obviously out-of-his-element yard boy to the princess. There is some tension between the two old directors, and Whale snaps that tension by declaring: "Yes. Clayton hasn't met many princess, but he knows a great many Queens." In the film's climactic moment, Boone agrees to pose fully nude for Whale and what ensues is a brilliant moment that is erotic yet as sad-as-sad-could-ever-be. Whale, in my interpretation of the film, is the outcast just as his creation, Frankenstein, was an outcast looking for love and companionship. He doesn't find love, but Clayton Boone provided companionship. This is a truly great film.
Rating:
Summary: WOW.
Review: If you don't finish watching this movie moved in some way i'd be very suprised. God's and Monster's is the story of the horror film manster James While("Frankenstien", "Bride of Frankenstien", "The Invisable Man")who in his older years battles sickness, and Homosexuallity. He forms a stange friendship with the young man who mow his law for money. Even though he is straght 100%. The acting in this flim is untoppable. Horror legend Clive Barker and executive producer of Gods and Monsters Clive Baker is also a open Homosexual. This DVD also comes with a very interging documantry. See This!
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