The Squid and the Whale

Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, William Baldwin, Anna Paquin, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline

Dir. Noah Baumbach
Scr. Noah Baumbach

I saw the trailer for this film a while back, but never got around to seeing it at the cinema. It seemed like one of those films that could wait till dvd. And it is. But I’m disappointed I didn’t see it when it came out last year – it would have undoubtedly made it into my Top Ten of 2006.
Set in Brooklyn in the 1980s, writer and director Noah Baumbach tells the autobiographical story of his parent’s divorce and the effect it had on him and his little brother. It’s a very simple, common story, told here with just a handful of incredibly credible characters. The parents are selfish and petty, but not monstrous. The kids are disturbed, but they won’t end up shooting their classmates. Baumbach doesn’t make these characters into exaggerated caricatures, and movie is all the better for it.

But, as one character puts it, “joint custody blows”, and we certainly go through the lows and frustrations that face both kids of divorced parents and the parents themselves. This is a moving film – touching, sad, insightful. And into this, is woven some very clever humour – people trying to be something they are not; a son living up to the expectations of his literary snob of a father; the lengths some people go to to cry for help.

Jeff Daniels is perfect as a failing writer, trying desperately to do what he thinks is right for his sons and himself. Laura Linney, perhaps the most consistently convincing actress around, plays the mother with compassion and humour. William Baldwin has a small but important role as the kids’ tennis coach and a very endearing linguistic suffix. Anna Paquin is somewhat annoying in her role as a woman that threatens to drive a wedge between father and son. She just seems to be trying a little too hard.

But this film really does belong to Walt (Eisenberg) and Frank (Kline), as two brothers struggling to find their place in a new domestic situation. Eisenberg has the more central role, as you would expect – he is playing a young Baumbach. And he does so very well. But Kline really does steal the show. His antics – sexual discovery or perhaps just trouble making – are simultaneously so tragic and so funny. You really do feel for this young kid who doesn’t know who is he, suspects he may be a philistine (if only he knew what that meant), and is fast becoming an alcoholic before he even hits high school.

This is a funny film. It’s an endearing film. It’s melancholic but not depressing. In the end, you will feel uplifted and a little sad that you won’t see these characters again.

-----------------------

Sophie: I mean, it's gross when he turns into the bug, but I love how matter of fact everything is.
Walt: Yeah, it's very Kafkaesque.
Sophie: Cause it's written by Franz Kafka.
Walt: Right. I mean, clearly.