The Squid and the Whale
Time: |
|
Where: |
|
Synopsis
Writer-director Noah Baumbach earned the 2005 Best Dramatic Directing Award as well as the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for his heartfelt film about a family splintered by divorce. Anchored by an uncompromising performance by Jeff Daniels as the family patriarch, The Squid and the Whale also stars Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline.
The film captures with extraordinary immediacy the inner workings of the Berkman family in 1986 Brooklyn. Bernard (Jeff Daniels), an academic and author, and his restless wife Joan, (Laura Linney) an up-and-coming writer, have given up on their marriage. Their two sons Walt (Jesse Eisenberg), 16, and Frank (Owen Kline), 12, are left to grapple with their confusing and conflicted feelings.
The experience is a tender, funny and ultimately moving coming-of-age for Walt and a tortuously premature one for Frank. The emotional tensions and strains that emerge during this difficult period for the Berkmans are given a remarkably subtle and nuanced portrayal as a family in transition learns to redefine itself.
Directed by Noah Baumbach
2005, USA, 88 min., not rated
website: http://www.squidandthewhalemovie.com
Reviews
Clear-eyed and intimate, a deeply felt narrative that flinches from nothing… a model of what independent filmmaking can achieve. |
It’s a small miracle. | Fresh and fierce! Even the laughs cut to the bone. All the performances are flawless. Daniels’ portrait is a finely tuned tour de force and his shining hour onscreen. Baumbach’s humane movie gets under your skin. |
Clear-eyed and intimate, a deeply felt narrative that flinches from nothing… a model of what independent filmmaking can achieve. |
It’s a small miracle. |
Fresh and fierce! Even the laughs cut to the bone. All the performances are flawless. Daniels’ portrait is a finely tuned tour de force and his shining hour onscreen. Baumbach’s humane movie gets under your skin. |