Normally, I’d spend the weekend at the movies. However, with CORVID-19 being a thing, even though I’m feeling fine, I opted to stay in this weekend and who knows how many weekends to come. Fortunately, I have plenty of things to do around my apartment , so why not knock a few movies off the various watchlists I have on various streaming services I subscribe to?
And, since I watched and enjoyed Marriage Story, I figure I should see writer/director Noah Baumbach’s other semi-autobiographical divorce movie The Squid and the Whale.
Parents Bernard (Jeff Daniels) and Joan Berkman (Laura Linney) are getting a divorce. They have two sons. High schooler Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) clearly idolizes his father in every way while pre-teen Frank (Owen Kline) seems more inclined towards his mother. Both boys show signs of emotional and psychological problems in the wake of the separation, and the movie ends with Walt, at least, coming to a better place than he was in before.
First off, the obvious: this is an incredible tour-de-force performance from Daniels. While Linney’s Joan isn’t without faults in the marriage, Bernard is in many ways the problem. As the movie opens, even before the viewer learns the couple is separating, we see the family playing tennis together. Bernard, playing with Walt, encourages his son to play to his wife’s weak hand and in an overly aggressive manner in what should be a friendly game. Both parents are literature professors, and Joan has a novel on the way. Bernard’s own literary accomplishment are long in the past, and it is obviously bothering him that she is seeing success that he never had. He’s arrogant, full of himself, and looks down on almost everyone around him. He’s the kind of man who will spread his wife’s faults around and blame her as often as possible for what happens to the boys. He has more faults than I can probably list in a single paragraph, particularly a refusal to believe his life is changing and he isn’t any better than anyone else.
Of course, Laura Linney is good in just about everything, but it sure is satisfying when Bernard, late in the movie, makes a rather pathetic appeal for a reconciliation that she just laughs at him.
And then there’s Jesse Eisenberg as Walt, a boy trying way too hard to be like his father before eventually realizing what a terrible idea that is. While Frank’s status at the end of the movie is somewhat unresolved, we do see Walt making real progress to be a better person. Whether or not he actually makes it is unknown, but he recognizes he’s made mistakes and may end up a more well-rounded person.
Baumbach’s script and direction doesn’t provide answers, but this isn’t the sort of story that should provide any. It’s a slice of life looking into what it’s like to live with a very difficult man, told well, with a fantastic central performance by Daniels. I should probably have checked this one out sooner.
Grade: A
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