The Squid and the Whale (2005)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
Based on the true childhood experience of writer-director Noah Baumbach and his brother, "The Squid and the Whale" tells the awkward but not-so-unusual story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn during the 1980s. The dialogue and character writing in this picture was great. The script was its greatest quality. Performances from both Laura Linney as the mother and Jeff Daniels as the father were great, while the young actors to play the brothers were adequate. This picture is basically a weird and accurate telling of a broken family; children choosing sides between divorcing parents. It's very engaging, but all of its laugh are generated by nervous, uncomfortable laughter. The script is a character piece with little to no resolution; however, it didn't bother me, since divorces like this one are NEVER resolved. They simply evolve. I thought the best part of the movie was its opening scene where the parents and two sons are playing doubles tennis. The younger son it teamed with the mother, and the older the father, which is also how they align when the parents split up. The game showed the family dynamic immediately and set the tone of the film; awesome. Overall, I think this is a decent picture and fairly important, but it's just a little off in its material for me to get gung-ho about it. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
Interesting, but weird.