The Squid and the Whale
This is one of those indies you’re likely to hear about, but never really bring yourself to watch. It’s understandable, since it’s a low-budget indie that may play in just the most selective of art houses around major cities (I had to go to Buckhead to see it); it’s set in 1986 (do many people really care about movies so specifically set in the recent past like that?); it is peopled with great actors, not big stars; and it’s the sort of film where you’ll hear more admiration for it from citics- the L.A. Film Critics just gave it a share of their Best Screenplay award; the New York Film Critics and National Board of Review gave it theirs outright- than from audiences. It’s understandable; “The Squid and the Whale” wears its’ indie cred proudly on its’ sleeve while telling a thoughtfully personal story for its’ writer, who usually serves as director (as Noah Baumbach- an indie veteran (whose film “Kicking and Screaming”- not the Will Ferrell one- was a similar style of film from what I remember of it) does here).
The story Baumbach has told couldn’t be more personal- he’s chronicling the divorce of his parents- one a film critic, the other a novelist- and its’ repercussions on the kids. Though he’s fictionalized the characters, and changed their names, the feelings and confusion invoked ring true. Personally, the film didn’t resonate with me as much as it did for others, and though the film is considered a comedy-drama (see the Golden Globe nominations in the Comedy category), the film is short on genuine laughs (though what laughs it does have sting). But the script carries with it the pain of four lives ruined by circumstances not completely in their control. It’s a movie worth your time.
You can thank the actors for that. As father Bernard- a university professor who has published some books, but never found commercial success- Jeff Daniels finds the bruised heart and fragile ego of an intellectual whose shallow values and liberal use of profanity both alienates him from his wife (more on her in a minute) or rubs off on his sons (ditto) in ways that damage both of them, while he takes the opportunity to invite a student (the sexy, frisky Anna Paquin) whose racy writing he admires to live with him and his sons, whom he has in joint custody with his wife. A veteran character actor whose presence in a film is never unwelcome (“Speed,” “Dumb and Dumber,” and “Good Night, and Good Luck” all benefitted from him being in them), “The Squid and the Whale” is Daniels’ best work to date; you can’t shake his desparation to put his life back together.
His wife- Joan- is played by Laura Linney, the indie arena’s thinking man’s sex symbol (see her Oscar-nominated turn in last year’s “Kinsey”). Joan is a woman who loves her children and loved her husband at one point, but now has her own desires. She had a 4-year affair with another man that ended up being the reason for divorce, and now starts a relationship with her younger son’s tennis instructor (played by William Baldwin as a man who never got over the ’70s) while she must bear with her oldest son’s contempt (he can’t forgive her for ruining their “perfect” family, though one wonders how perfect it was exactly). One can’t blame her for straying when you see Bernard at his most pretentious (he calls the instructor a phillistine, and when his youngest son says he is as well, Bernard can’t accept it). What pushes them further apart, though, is when a story of Joan’s gets published- with a novel on the way- which looks to be more successful than Bernard ever was. Linney navigates Joan’s rejuvination about life and pain about her children’s introversion after the divorce- which comes out in different and equally troubling ways- with the skill of an artist and the compassion of a person who’s been there. That she has doesn’t make the accomplishment less impressive.
The younger of the two children- Frank- is played by Owen Kline, son of Kevin and his wife Phoebe Cates. He has his father’s talent, as you can see watching his work as a young boy whose parents seem to be pushing him into interests he has no interest in- like tennis- while ignoring the deeper emotional issues that causes him to experiment with masturbation in places where it shouldn’t be taking place, and finding increasingly disturbing places to put the end result. You can see in Kline’s eyes that Frank is a kid crying for attention he’s not receiving from either parent. He’s one to watch.
The oldest of the two children- Walt (who acts as Baumbach’s surrogate)- is the one character that gives me the most pause. He’s played truthfully by Jesse Eisenberg- one senses Baumbach is being brutally honest with himself in this reflection of his youth- but is a hard person to see as our protagonist, which he basically is. But at the same time, in thinking back about the movie, having Walt as the “main character”- if you will- makes the most sense in that his character has been damaged most by the two parents. He feels the most betrayal from his mother’s actions and reflects the worst values of his father’s personality. This isn’t more true than when considering his relationship with a classmate named Sophie who seems a natural fit intellectually even though his father hits him over the head with the idea that this is his time to look around and take in the sites, so to speak, when it comes with women. That he realizes his father was wrong in his thinking is a credit to him; that he comes to the realization in a way that isn’t contrived is a credit to Eisenberg and Baumbach.
What does “The Squid and the Whale” mean, exactly? It comes from Walt’s youth, when they went to an aquarium, which had a model of a squid and a whale fighting that frightened him. Baumbach has Walt return to the aquarium at the end of the movie and face his childhood fear, which doesn’t faze him because you get the sense he has a new one. That’s how I see it at least.
