Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a little review of a big indie film festival favorite from our very own MiraJeff. The movie he's talking about is called THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, a drama about a family living in the '80s starring Jeff Daniels... People forget just how great an actor Daniels is. He was damn good in PLEASANTVILLE, but if you haven't seen his turn in Woody Allen's THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO then you really haven't seen Daniels at the top of this game. I can't wait to see him in SQUID & THE WHALE or GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. Enjoy MiraJeff with his review of that first one!
Greetings AICN, MiraJeff here to finally sing the praises of Noah Baumbach’s ambitious, delightful directorial debut, The Squid and the Whale; a touching, comedic look at a family lost in the crisis of a divorce. Baumbach is no stranger to quirky humor, having filled in for Owen Wilson and co-written The Life Aquatic with director pal Wes Anderson. Squid is set in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1986. We know it is 1986 because the Knicks are still competitive. All kidding aside, competition is a recurring theme within the movie, as we first meet the Berkman family playing tennis. From the outside, they’re a picture perfect family. But we quickly sense something is wrong when Bernard tells his eldest son and doubles partner, Walt (Jess Eisenberg), to expose his mother’s poor back hand. Later, Bernard slams a ball right at his defenseless wife, Joan (Laura Linney). The match gets so heated that even 12 year-old Frank spews obscenities like a mini-McEnroe, clearly inheriting his father’s impatient temper.
Off the court, Bernard is a writer whose best work is probably behind him. He currently uses his post as a high school teacher to fantasize about his students, including one in particular (Anna Paquin) who likes to write poetry about her vagina. Having no luck finding a publisher for his manuscript, Bernard is even more frustrated when he learns secondhand that Joan’s literary career is taking off, as she manages to get her writing into the New Yorker, an esteemed publication that Baumbach himself rose to fame in. It is inherent from the outset of the film that their marriage is doomed, and Baumbach wastes no time in staging the “break it the kids” speech, on wonderfully 80’s yellow furniture, no less. Joan seems to be the parent pushing for the divorce, though surprisingly it’s Bernard who has the grounds to file for separation because Joan cheated on him. Bernard knows he could probably get custody, but does not wish to disrupt his family any more than the divorce already has. Bernard agrees to joint custody and moves to the other side of the park, to “the filet of a very elegant neighborhood.” I’m still not sure where that is in Brooklyn.
As a result, the children’s’ routine is thrown out of whack. For one, Walt sides with his father, objecting to use mother’s affair, which went on right under his nose. He also seems to be embarrassed by his parents’ inability to hold their marriage together, as most of his friends’ parents are divorced too, and Walt was proud of his too-good-to-be-true family. But Walt’s choice to live with his father only widens the chasm growing between his parents, and between him and his brother. At 12 years old, Frank immediately tells his best friends about his parents’ decision to have joint custody. Walt gets pissed because he doesn’t want anyone to know, as if it’s a secret to be ashamed of. A communication gap forms, and the brothers grow apart a bit as they do some self-exploration.
Frank takes to drinking beer and masturbating in public as a way to deal with the stress. He even marks his territory by wiping his semen on lockers and library shelves. Meanwhile, Walt throws himself headfirst into a relationship with a very nice, pretty-enough girl named Sophie. The pressures of sex are there, but Walt is so inexperienced when it comes to physical intimacy, that he turns to Bernard for advice, who may be the least qualified person Walt knows to lecture on the subject. Bernard assures his son that while Sophie may suit his purposes for now, he should focus on having sex with as many beautiful women as he can. Joan is actually Bernard’s third wife, but his love for her was the most real thing he’s ever felt, and it crushes him to learn that he’ll never be able to repair their marriage. He’s become a cynic with regard to love, which may be why he is so eager to invite Paquin into his house when she comes to her teacher needing a place to stay, a move that creates a very interesting three-person dynamic in the house. Walt has a very idealistic view of himself, and as the film progresses, he seems to become more conscious of how he is perceived by other people. We know he cares very much what others think of him, as he pretends to have read important works of literature, and though he is familiar with them, he is only reciting what Bernard has told him. Walt hasn’t actually read them himself. His intellectual exterior is only a façade, built to appease, or compete with his obviously intelligent parents. And later, when he is walking hand in hand with Sophie, he subconsciously releases her hand when a more attractive girl walks past them. Unfortunately, his self-realization comes too late to save him from embarrassing himself at the school talent show, in which he sings a Pink Floyd song on the guitar and claims to have written the lyrics.
Eisenberg plays Walt, who may or may not be based on Baumbach himself, as a bundle of neuroses, his speech coming in quick, rhythmic patterns. He’s the perfect match as Daniels’ son. Eisenberg is one of Hollywood’s more gifted young actors, and he chooses smart roles in smart films. His work here is even better than in Roger Dodger. And Owen Kline, son of Kevin, is hilarious as Frank, the son who might be a bit too young to fully comprehend the weight of his parents’ split, but is yet oddly perceptive for a 12 year-old. At times Frank is very naïve, like a child. When he asks his father why he’s spent the night on the couch, Bernard replies, “Because it’s better to sleep on,” an answer that satisfies his curiosity. But later, as he drinks a beer and stares at himself in the mirror like some kind of weary, middle-aged man lost deep in thought, he projects a unique maturity. Although Frank is at that exploring age, Baumbach doesn’t write the character as if he’s a child, he treats Frank like he’s an adult. Kline plays him with an incredible sense of wonder that makes the audience anxious to see what he’ll do next. He’s a real find as the quirky sort of bugger who would stick a peanut up his nose at dinner and then lie to his mother about blowing it out.
Billy Baldwin co-stars in a small role as Ivan, the local tennis pro who shacks up with Joan after her divorce. Baldwin provides colorful character work as he struts around shouting “my brother” all the time, looking like Richie Sambora. Linney is her usually strong self, imbuing Joan with a certain backbone that I don’t think a lot of other actresses could show. She knows she’s not perfect but she wants Bernard to see that it’s not all her fault just because she had an affair. They both made certain mistakes along the way. Now they have to deal with the repercussions together, as a family. Linney might be most endearing when we hear the genuine affection in her voice when she calls her boys Chicken and Pickle. Joan’s problem is that she tells her children too much about herself and her relationship with Bernard. She just needs to learn restraint.
As good as everyone in this cast is, the revelation here is Jeff Daniels, who delves into the role and really gets into Bernard’s head. A lesser actor might have only broken Bernard’s intellectual surface, but Daniels loses himself in the role, pouring his whole heart into being the best father, if not husband, that he can be. Bernard is a fascinating character because of his flaws. He doesn’t change. He doesn’t become some happy-go-lucky optimist by the last real. He’s dealing with life, one day at a time, the best anybody can ask for. It’s a real change of pace for Daniels, a challenge he was more than willing to accept. The man can still make us laugh like he did in Dumb and Dumber, but there’s a wisdom there now that gives his words more weight. I’d love to see Daniels get a nomination for this, but chances are if The Squid and the Whale gets any recognition, it will be for its phenomenal screenplay. Too often, celebrities film their vanity projects about what their lives were like as kids. (David Duchovny’s House of D comes to mind), but Baumbach’s writing is so honest and vivid, we can’t help but be sucked back into his childhood along with him. The director even went so far as to dress Daniels in his father’s old clothes. You’ve gotta love details like that. Small things, like the headphones Walt needs to survive a family trip in the station wagon. The polo shirts everyone wears. The tennis posters, shoulder pads, the cat, the emergency burger cooking. Even the way Walt and Frank fight, it’s obvious they couldn’t be anything else but brothers. There’s a marked restraint in their actions, but a serious intensity to them, something the younger actors do a great job of bringing out in the script. All these small details add up to what is a very funny, brutally honest film. This movie is perfect at capturing what it meant to be a family trying to get by in the 80’s.
The Squid and the Whale explores a lot of different themes, including the answers people give when they have to say something. Sometimes you have to lie, and other times its best to tell the truth, but more often than not, we give a combination of the two, and that’s okay too. As for the title of The Squid and the Whale, it refers to a museum exhibit that has fascinated Walt even since he was a child. Baumbach’s metaphor is admirable but ultimately lost on deaf ears. By the end, I didn’t care what he trying to say. All I know is, I couldn’t have said it any better.
I’ll be back next week, continuing AICN’s coverage on the NY Film Festival. I’ve seen Great (Capote), Good (Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story), and utterly disappointing (cough, Domino, cough). There’ll also be an interview with Jeff Daniels coming any day now. Until then, good night, and good luck.
