KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

jwoodsvf14 If you don't think this is one of the greatest movies ever... you know what you are!

Scott LeBrun Writer / director Noah Baumbach has always been up front about this tale being a semi- autobiographical one. It deals with the divorce of a NYC couple that's been together for about 17 years, and have two sons, a teenager (Jesse Eisenberg) and a pre-teen (Owen Kline). It shows how the parents are not consistent with how they treat each other - sometimes they're civil, sometimes they're not. Adding to the tension is the fact that they're both writers, but her star is on the rise, and he could be seen as a has-been, now largely earning his living in a professorial capacity."The Squid and the Whale" offers nothing profound, but it's a pretty blunt examination of the effects of divorce - the toll that it takes on whatever children are part of the equation. It also takes some mildly amusing jabs at trendy "intellectual" literary types in NYC. For example, the father / ex-husband, Bernard (Jeff Daniels, the MVP of this film), looks at guys like tennis instructor Ivan (William Baldwin) as being "philistines". Some viewers may object to the liberal use of profanity - which did amuse this viewer, and stopped just short of being too excessive - and the fact that the younger son / brother develops a problem of public masturbation. The filmmaking isn't anything special, but the story by Baumbach is a reasonably entertaining one, which only runs approximately 82 minutes, anyway.The main draw is the acting. Daniels is simply excellent, while Laura Linney is completely believable in a low key, deglamorized role. Eisenberg does alright as the elder sibling, with young Kline, the offspring of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, doing a nice job in his first substantial film role. Baldwin is a hoot. Anna Paquin is all kinds of sexy as a daring young student in Daniels' class. And Halley Feiffer is appealing as Eisenbergs' love interest.Regarding Walts' talent show appearance where he tries to pass off Pink Floyds' "Hey You" as his own work...did he really think he was going to get away with that?Seven out of 10.

prisleyfebrian-79751 none of the characters that i care about. every character disgust me. horrible parents, they divorce easily without thinking about their kids. selfish. the kids also horrible (and yes, because of the parents). the cursing words, their unhealthy habits, etc. I just don't know what can I get from watching this kinda movie. even tho i have to say I can enjoy this. and the ending, it's like 'that's it?'. the acting was good, but horrible story, and no morals.

guy-bellinger Divorce among academics has nothing to envy separation among the working class. Noah Baumbach, the writer-director of « The Squid and the Whale », knows it for a fact, he who, as a teenager (and along with his younger brother), found himself trapped in the middle of parental separation chaos. But painful as the ordeal was, it has at least had a happy result : its talented dramatization by one of its victims, Noah Baumbach in person. Indeed, speaking from experience, his film cannot but engage audiences, since divorce is an experience shared by everybody, whether directly or indirectly. On condition, however, of not falling into banality, a pitfall the director skilfully avoids by resorting to two effective devices ; firstly by using humor (caustic if need be) to sift through the situation, secondly, in having the story told by the two sons (one still a child), not by the adults. The result is a few memorable scenes, performed by excellent actors, young or less young, among whom Jeff Daniels (amazing as the vain, embittered father) ; Laura Linney (who manages to give depth to the imperfect but loving mother she embodies) and, excellent as the two sons, Jesse Eisenberg (at the beginning of his rise to stardom) and Owen Kline (good seed makes a good crop !). All in all, a basically serious but really funny comedy of manners, acid but slightly sweetened by a pinch of empathy, on what undermines married and family life, namely selfishness, conceit, thoughtlessness, to put it briefly and to paraphrase Kundera, the unbearable lightness of beings supposed to be the creme de la creme of intellectual élite.