The Squid and the Whale movie review

July 20, 2010 - #42/100
The Squid and the Whale (2005)

This movie is set in 1986, and it is based on true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach (the writer and director) and his brother. Joan (Laura Linney) and Bernard (Jeff Daniels) Berkman are going through a divorce, and it's easy to tell that the divorce greatly affects their children Frank and Walt. Joan, who is growing as a writer, admits being unfaithful to Bernard. On the other hand, it's easy to tell that Bernard is a selfish man who is upset at the fact that he hasn't been able to write a decent book for many years. Right after the separation occurs, each child chooses a side. Walt wants to spend most of his time with Bernard, while Frank would rather spend most of his time with Joan. There are so many aspects of this movie that make you feel uncomfortable and sad. Divorce is an ugly mess, but I just hope that it's not always as bad as it seems in this movie. The acting in this movie was perfect. I was actually shocked to find out that Jeff Daniels was the dad. Most of the time, when I think of Jeff, I think of Dumb and Dumber. Therefore, it was nice to see him play a serious role. His character is completely unlikeable, but yet he still manages to make you feel sorry for him. I think it's safe to say that I've never seen a movie like this before. It's definitely different, but sometimes it's nice to see movies that aren't predictable. Noah Baumbach did a wonderful job at bringing this story to life, and I sincerely hope that some of the things in the movie were exaggerated because it would be terrible to grow up in a home that handles divorce in this manner. This movie was brilliant, but awkward.

I gave this movie 8/10 stars on imdb.com.