Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6682 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, Dutch, English, Hindi
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 77 minutes

Amazon.co.uk review

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 behaviour 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

Synopsis
Noah Baumbach's THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is an excruciatingly humane, often hilarious portrait of a disintegrating family in mid-1980s Brooklyn. Set in the stately yet off-kilter neighbourhood of Park Slope, the film tells the story of the Berkmans, a quintessentially New York family struggling to keep things together. Family patriarch Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is a published author and writing teacher whose insecurity over his own lack of recognition continues to plague him. Meanwhile his wife Joan (Laura Linney) is grappling with her own sense of unsettlement. Their sons, who are caught in the crossfire, express their confusion in different ways: 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) tries to pass off Pink Floyd's Hey You as his own hit in the school talent show, while his 12-year-old brother Frank (Owen Kline) begins to explore his budding sexuality. When Bernard and Joan finally decide to separate, the family must confront their unravelling situation head on. Rarely has family dysfunction been captured so frankly and honestly as in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. Baumbach claims his film is only semi-autobiographical but, from the pitch-perfect writing and nostalgic tone, it feels as if we're watching home videos of the writer-director's past. Featuring an outstanding pop-music soundtrack (Bert Jansch, The Feelies, Lou Reed), the film boasts excellent performances from its cast.