The Squid And The Whale Reviews

'Very Kafkaesque'

This film might not be for everyone - it deals with a family in Brooklyn in 1985 and the way a divorce impacts upon two sons.

Jeff Daniels brilliantly plays the father, a bitter, patronising intellectual struggling to get his novel published while his wife, played by the underrated Laura Linney is gaining recognition for her published work.

The two sons come to terms with the divorce in different ways and the style of film and budget mean that we feel very close to the characters and what they are doing.

The interplay between the four major characters is excellent and the eldest son, Walt searches desperately for his own voice while the youngest son looks to gain attention.

A rewarding film that with a serious central theme fits a fair amount of humour, pathos and satire into just less than 80 minutes.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Impressive

I was impressed by the films constant hold over me, I couldn't turn it off to go to the toilet, to get a drink and if someone had come in to the room and said 'Joe America are at war with Scotland and there about to drop bombs get into the bombshelter', I think my life would have been very much in danger. I don't understand my fellow reviewees or reviewers or whatever you call us, anyway there low opinion of this film. Very good, a worthwhile watch.

Just because it's depressing, doesn't make it good!

This is a worthy and witty little film (72 minutes or so) that reveals some of the harsher and more painful aspects of parental divorce. The dialogue is bright, but over-written; acting is adequate but I was disappointed: the film has been hyped way beyond its modest aspirations and even more modest achievements.

For a start, characterisation is limited. We just don't get to the heart of the conflict between mum and dad. Dad seems to be jealous of mum's writing success; but if she's really that sassy, why does mum go off with the tennis pro?

Director Noah Baumbach doubtless got to the heart of many of the quirks and manipulations parents use to win children to their side in bitter divorce settlements, but far too much is left up in the air: the interesting but bizarre behaviour of the younger brother doesn't get properly aired or resolved; the older one's discovery of his father with the young student seems to just get left floating in the story-line.

The problem with real life is that it doesn't have many 'stories-with-closure', but films have to. This film ends in the museum with the eponymous squid and whale and I guess some viewers got to that point and just said 'wow!' I got there and was relieved to swap to the news.

Pretentious, nasty, but ultimately unsatisfying little drama. Methinks Mr Baumbach needs to learn that just because it's depressing doesn't make it good. The French do this kinda thing much, much better.

A family sized slice of life in 1980's Manhattan

If you were raised in the 1980's you will either cringe or rejoice with this movie. It is filled with some very honest moments, as we get to look behind closed doors at a family becoming divided. Wes Anderson produced this, usually his films tend to be overly stylised, often trying too hard to be iconic. But here the director Noah Baumbach is able to find a style that doesn't over power the content. Also, Jeff Daniels finally has a part to sink his teeth into (no giant spiders in sight) and gives what I think is the performance of his career. Unfortunately one of the Baldwin Clan comes and spoils the party, but this film is at times a very engaging piece of work.

Er!!!

The first mistake I made was reading the overly positive reviews on Metacritic just before watching this film. You'd think I would have learned by now. So, what I was expecting was a hilarious but well observed film about a family being torn apart by divorce. As ever, it's the difference between what you expect & what you actually get that actually forms your opinion of a movie. Whilst occasionally quite funny, I cannot say that I split my side laughing. Being about intellectuals, it may be that the intellectuals who reviewed it thought (in their own elitist way) that all the literary references were uproariously funny. I did not.

Now that I've got over my disappointment I can look back on some fine performances by everyone involved. None of the main characters is particularly likeable. But I think if you go into this film expecting an absorbing insight into a dysfunctional family in crisis, then you won't be disappointed.

I'd give it three and a half stars if I could.

[Highly rated reviewer]

The Darkest of Comedies

Excruciating and utterly dark comedy exploring the end of a marriage, and the consequences for all concerned.

Set in mid-80s New York, this low budget production contains some brilliantly cringe-making set pieces, as Bernard and Joan Berkman struggle to come to terms with their break up, and how it affects their two sons. Daniels is superb as Bernard, capturing the essence of someone who has obviously invested his entire being in the importance of art, literature and the academic American dream, and his very pretentiousness makes him both pathetic and repellent. Linney’s Joan is no less complicated, expertly conveying both maternal love and abject selfishness. Her inability to put the brakes on when telling her sons about her relationship experiences and history is hilarious. In Walt, Eisenberg creates a wonderful picture of adolescent priggish arrogance covering up inexperience and naivety – his determination to ape his father’s character and views only serves to heighten the discomfort when he is eventually disillusioned. Lastly, director Noah Baumbach has found a beautifully natural performer in Kline, whose reaction to his parents’ separation is the antithesis of his brother’s – his dislike of his father, his acceptance of his mother’s behaviour, his loss of control.

Playing like some discomforting variation of a Woody Allen comedy, TSATW has no easy answers. Its low-budget production qualities are often lacking, but for all that it’s a brilliant study of familial dysfunction, and frequently hilarious to boot

[Highly rated reviewer]

Brilliantly Dull

Cleverly observed, brilliantly acted...........and extremely dull. Yawn. Very over-rated.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Disappointed

another film okay for a rainy afternoon.

Enjoyable

If you liked Little Miss Sunshine, you'll like this. Same degree of quirky off-the-wallness.

The Squid And The Whale (2005)

This film reveals some of the harsher and more painful aspects of parental divorce. A bit too depressing for me!