The Squid and the Whale

2/9/2019

***Gripping realistic account of divorce and its consequences; it’s also occasionally comical*** “The Squid and the Whale” (2005) is a frank, quirky and amusing drama about a family from Brooklyn in 1986 that encounters divorce and the ramifications thereof. The father (Jeff Daniels) is a literary professor and fading author while the wife (Laura Linney) is an emerging writer, a sweet liberal who for some reason can’t stop having affairs. The two boys are played by Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline. William Baldwin is on hand as a tennis instructor while Anna Paquin plays a college student. The story is unsurprisingly based on director/writer Noah Baumbach’s own family’s experience. I say “unsurprisingly” because the movie smacks of real life with its candid and sometimes comical