The Squid and the Whale film review

Review

Cast & crew

The Squid and the Whale

(2005)

Writer/director Noah Baumbach's Oscar-nominated drama is a serio-comic account of an intellectual New York couple's divorce as seen from the perspective of their two sons. It's beautifully played by the principals, with Jesse Eisenberg particularly good as the clever but callow teenager beginning the painful process of realising that his father (Jeff Daniels) is not as perfect as he once thought. But at the heart of the film is Daniels's astonishing performance as Bernard, the subtly monstrous paterfamilias whose intellectual arrogance (he refers to Kafka as “one of my predecessors”) and casual meanness are tempered by a kind of wounded bewilderment, both at his own professional decline and at his abandonment by his wife (the excellent Laura Linney). Baumbach's film was apparently inspired by his own family's break-up in the 1980s. Perhaps that's why the agonising details are so acutely observed and offer an occasional, mildly uncomfortable feeling of partisanship. AS

Contains swearing.

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Running time

77min

Country of origin

Genre

Comedy Drama

Original language

English

Screenplay

Noah Baumbach

Theatrical distributor

Columbia TriStar

UK cinema certificate

UK cinema release date

April 2006




awards information


	Award	Category	Name	Nominee/Winner

	Academy 2005	Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)	Noah Baumbach	Nominee
	Golden Globe 2005	Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical		Nominee
	Golden Globe 2005	Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical	Jeff Daniels	Nominee
	Golden Globe 2005	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical	Laura Linney	Nominee