The Squid and the Whale

The Squid and the Whale(directed by the writer and director of ‘Greenburg’, Noah Baumbach) is about the everyday happenings of the Berkman family set in 1980’s Brooklyn. Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels) is a middle-aged father with a strong and detrimental emotional reliance on his family members (one of his sons, Walt is played by Jesse Eisenberg). We're introduced to the mother of the Berkman clan: Joan Berkman (Laura Linney). A promiscuous writer who is unhappy with the state of her marriage and decides that finally...divorce is an option ready to be considered.  

The kids are treated as miniature adults. No topic seems too risqué or uncomfortable to discuss in great detail (sex, relationships, underage drinking). The Squid and the Whale may flare up feelings of second-hand embarrassment in some particular scenes. Noah Baumbach makes us feel the awkward moments with the family, something about his filmmaking comes across as wholly genuine and individual. 

Beautiful. Sometimes you feel glad to have seen a film, that's the feeling you get with this. Esteemed cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman (Moonrise Kingdom) makes this another one of his hits in his portfolio - the colors and tones of the entire film look phenomenal.  

It's all good. The cast, writing, direction. All of it. The casting choice for this movie is truly sublime. This family is made up of the right cast to deliver this tone of the content. It's hard to fault this film. 

Child of divorce. This film is going to obviously resonate with people who have some relation to the story and themes in The Squid and Whale like divorce and dysfunctional family dynamics, but it shouldn't put off those who don't.