Search - The Squid and the Whale on DVD

The Squid and the Whale

Actor(s): Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline, William Baldwin
Director(s): Noah Baumbach
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Movie Details

MPAA Rating: R
Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Adult Humor, Profanity, Alcohol Consumption, Youth Substance Use
Movie Release: 2005
DVD Release: 03/21/2006
Format: DVD - Color - Closed Captioned
Audio Tracks: English, French
Subtitles: English, French
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 1 hrs 21 mins
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Total Copies: 32
Genres: Drama, Family Drama, Coming-of-Age

DVD Synopsis

Two boys learn the hard way about how a marriage falls apart in this independent comedy drama. Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is a novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His wife, Joan (Laura Linney), meanwhile, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan's two sons -- 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) -- are told that their parents are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of their Park Slope, Brooklyn, neighborhood. As the parents set up a schedule for spending time with their children, Walt and Jesse can hardly imagine that things could get more combative between their folks, but they do, as Joan begins dating Ivan (William Baldwin), Frank's tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing the house with Lili (Anna Paquin), one of his students. Meanwhile, the two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Walt taking after his father and Frank siding with his mom. Based on writer/director Noah Baumbach's own childhood experiences with his parents' divorce, The Squid and the Whale won prizes for writing and direction at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actors

Jeff Daniels - Bernard Berkman
Laura Linney - Joan Berkman
Jesse Eisenberg - Walt Berkman
Owen Kline - Frank Berkman
William Baldwin - Ivan

Member Movie Reviews

Carla H. (carlamo) from RICHMOND, TX wrote on 9/12/2009...

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

This movie attempts to be so realistic that it is completely UNrealistic. The characters were so over-the-top and one dimensional that it became simply agonizing to wait for the next unappealing scene. There were so many 4-letter words (many coming from the 2 teenage boys) that if they were bleeped out, most of the dialogue would be gone. About half way through, we just gave up watching it because there was nothing to enjoy in the experience. Don't bother.

Heather F. (8izenuff) from PHOENIX, AZ wrote on 9/12/2009...

I hated this movie, I hate movies like this. Real movie critics and all the indy movie awards praised. It is all to sick, and dark and you just hate all the characters. I wanted to smack them all. I have better things to do with my time then see this sad messed up stuff.

Shanna U. from NASHVILLE, TN wrote on 1/28/2009...

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

This was an interesting, if slightly depressing movie. Two mildly successful academics are getting divorced over ego issues. The movie focuses on how the two kids, boys, deal with this. The older of the sons turning into an insufferable clone of his father, and the younger one turning to beer and his mother's underwear.

Hilda S. from YORKTOWN, VA wrote on 5/5/2008...

Outstanding performances from Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney. Jesse Eisenberg from Juno gives a stellar performance also,and Anna Paquin is suberb.