The Squid and the Whale

Tonight we will be featuring an independent film titled The Squid and the Whale. I mentioned this movie in my post about The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou because the writer of Life Aquatic is the writer and director of this movie. So, The Squid and the Whale was written and directed by Noah Baumbach. This guy is talented. I wish he had more out there either written or directed by him. He just has a way of depicting life that is unique to him. The movie is a comedic drama. Although it is heavy on drama and light on comedy.

The movie has a stellar cast as well. The cast includes Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Owen Kline, Jesse Eisenberg, William Baldwin, and Anna Paquin.

This is one of those movies where you have to watch it more than once to fully appreciate it. So, if you think I am crazy for recommending it after you watch it, you will have to be patient enough to watch it twice. Now, you could be way smarter than me and fully appreciate it with just one watch. It is a story about a family and all the drama that each family member struggles with. What is unique about the movie is that each family member is in a very different place in their life. So, their drama is unique from each other. However, because they are a family and ultimately care for each other; everybody's drama affects everybody else as a team as well. The father (Jeff Daniels) is a genius professor who is suffering a professional slowdown. His insecurity about this slump drives him to divorce. It also causes him to alienate his sons. His main problem is that he has to make everyone close to him feel stupid so that he can feel superior. The mother (Laura Linney) has lost her husband (Jeff Daniels). She feels like she needs to nurture her own life even though all the lives of her family are being affected by the divorce. She sometimes over ignores the needs of her children in her attempts to be self satisfied. The older son (Jesse Eisenburg) is trying to get the approval of both his parents. He needs it desperately. He needs people to approve of him. However, both his parents ignore him as they struggle through their own problems. The youngest son (Owen Kline) feels the pains that any young boy feels as his parents divorce. Because his parents ignore him he has the opportunity to creatively try and drown his feelings through various odd habits. Obviously the destruction of this family and the family member's obsessive selfishness are what drive the drama. Their is some comedy in the situations the family members find themselves. For such a smart and talented family they just can't see what they are doing to themselves and the other family members. However, they start to see it towards the end of the movie, but the movie doesn't fully resolve the conflict. Classic Baumbach/Anderson.

The movie won the Director's Award at Sundance. It also was the official selection at the New York Film Festival. Both awards were won in 2005.

Other information:
Jeff Daniels is in State of Play alongside Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, and Ben Affleck.
Jeff Daniels is going to be in a movie titled Away We Go. It is being released in June. It is an indie movie that includes the likes of John Krasinski (The Office), Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney (The West Wing), Catherine O'Hara, and Jim Gaffigan. It looks like a good one. I am going to keep an eye out for it.
Laura Linney is going to star in Sympathy for Delicious. It is being directed by Mark Ruffalo and stars Mark Ruffalo (I think he is a great actor), Orlando Bloom, and Juliette Lewis,
Jesse Eisenberg is in the movie Adventureland that was just released. I don't know if I want to see Adventureland or Observe and Report this weekend.
Owen Kline is the son of Kevin Kline.