Elling at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Elling -- now in previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway -- opens with Brendan Fraser getting out of bed in boxer shorts and a dirty tank top.  This elicited perhaps the biggest reaction of the night as the entire audience gasped at the sight of Fraser's giant belly.  There were also laughs during the course of this comedy but they were fewer and farther between than you might imagine considering the all-star cast.

Elling tells the story of a pair of roommates, recently released from a mental institution, adjusting to life on the outside.  Denis O'Hare makes the most of his turn as Elling, the neurotic, agoraphobic half of the pair.  His tightly-wound performance strikes a nice balance between mania and heart.  Even at its most over-the-top, his performance is rooted in a clearly defined character.  Every action has motivation which keeps O'Hare's performance from turning into a string of theatrical hysterics.  Unfortunately, the same can not be said for Brendan Fraser's performance as Kjell Bjarne.  Fraser is once again playing the big dumb oaf role we have seen him play in his many comedic movies.  He just doesn't seem to be listening and reacting in the moment.  Instead, we see him mugging and "acting goofy" in a way that looks and feels hollow on stage.  His reactions seem to come just a fraction of a second too late creating really noticeable issues with the timing and pace of the show.  If this were a film he would have the benefit of editing... but it is not.  To be fair, this is his Broadway debut and I saw the show during previews, so there is still time for the pacing and timing to be tightened.

Although Fraser and O'Hare share top billing, the person I really wanted to see was Jennifer Coolidge.  Coolidge plays several roles in the show, but her real talent lies in her ability to play spacey bombshells like her character in the movie Best In Show.  In fact, Coolidge is so linked to those blonde bombshells that her first appearance in Elling as a nurse in a bobbed brown wig went unnoticed by the audience. Her entrance applause didn't come until she returned to the stage with her signature blonde curls showing.  Those curls signaled the return of the type of character she does best, and her performance didn't disappoint.  Despite not having much to work with in the script, Coolidge brings the laughs.  Much like O'Hare, she manages a real believability in her performance, no matter how outlandish.  She may not have the range of someone like O'Hare (think of his chilling performance on True Blood for instance) but what she does, she does better than anyone else.

Despite a couple of fine performances, something just doesn't click with Elling.  After the show, I kept wondering which aspect of the show was to blame.  Was it the script, which is serviceable but mining a well-worn situation?  Was it the acting, which is marred by Fraser's awkward/poor timing?  Perhaps the director, Dough Hughes (who helmed both the amazing Doubt and the terrible Oleanna) is to blame for not addressing the imbalances in the cast's performances?  Wherever the blame may lie, the end result is a play that is amusing, but will only leave you talking about how fat Brendan Fraser is.

Want to see for yourself?  Click here for tickets.