The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition)

The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition)
by Noah Baumbach

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Jeff Daniels, Jesse Eisenberg, Laura Linney, Owen Kline, William Baldwin
Director: Noah Baumbach
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); French (Dubbed); Portuguese (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures

Movie Reviews of The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition)

Movie Review: Modern Classic!
Summary: 5 Stars

I don't know how Laura Lindley does it but I can always count on her being in a great independent film. This one is wonderful though I still can't make sense of the ending. A couple divorce and the poor relationship between the couple and the boys disintegrate even further. This family wasn't content or happy before the divorce (which makes sense) but the divorce is an adjustment in itself. The father is a writer who can't get anything published while the mother is prospering. She finds other men to date and the father takes up with one of his college students. The older son admires his father while the younger boy vastly prefers his mother. So what happens? A lot, but it is not neatly wrapped up in a package. The movie begins and it ends. I would love to know who is the squid or the whale. That could provide more information, but it isn't clear. It is meant not to be clear so I will think a bit more about it. I'm sure this movie will be debated in college classrooms and essays for years to come.

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Summary of The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition)

Sony Pictures The Squid And The Whale (Widescreen, Special Edition)
Based on the true childhood experiences of director Noah Baumbach, "The Squid And The Whale" tells the story of a patriarch (Jeff Daniels, "Dumb & Dumber," "Speed") of an eccentric Brooklyn family who once had been a great novelist, but has settled into a teaching job. When his wife (Laura Linney, "Exorcism Of Emily Rose," "Kinsey") discovers a writing talent of her own, jealousy divides the family, leaving two teenage sons to forge new relationships with their parents. Linney's characterbegins dating her younger son's tennis coach (William Baldwin, "Backdraft," "Flatliners"). Meanwhile, Daniels' character has an affair with the student (Anna Paquin, "X-Men," "Almost Famous") his older son is pursuing.

The Squid and the Whale follows the divorce of Joan (Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me) and Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo) as it wreaks havoc on the emotional lives of their two sons, Walt (Jesse Eisenberg, Roger Dodger) and Frank (Owen Kline, The Anniversary Party). Though there's no plot in the usual sense, the movie progresses with growing emotional force from the separation into the bitter fighting between Joan and Bernard and the hapless, floundering behavior of Walt and Frank, who act out through plagiarism, sexual acts, and drinking. Some viewers may find the ending too diffuse; others will appreciate that writer/director Noah Baumbach (Mr. Jealousy) doesn't wrap up the messiness of life in a false cinematic package. Either way, viewers will appreciate how the specificity of the personalities makes The Squid and the Whale so compelling, as Baumbach has drawn the characters with such detail, both engaging and off-putting, that they leap off the screen. Naturally, he's greatly helped by the cast: Linney, Eisenberg, Kline, and especially Daniels bite into these often unsympathetic portraits and give fearlessly honest performances, interlocked in both painful and funny ways--rarely have family dynamics been captured so vividly. If there was an ensemble Oscar, this cast would deserve it. --Bret Fetzer

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