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Actors: Laura Linney, Jeff Daniels, William Baldwin
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Squid and the Whale |
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Set in Brooklyn in the 1980s, The Squid and the Whale tells the story of a marital break-up and its impact on the children. Jeff Daniels plays Bernard, a somewhat insufferably superior literature professor and decreasingly successful novelist, married to Joan (Laura Linney), a more successful writer but with her own insecurities. The parents bicker constantly, even while they play doubles tennis with their sons, the teenaged Walt and the "tween" Frank. The parents decide to separate, with Joan staying in the family home and Bernard moving to a dilapidated house "across the park". Custody - of the kids, and even of the family cat - is shared between the two parents. Walt and Frank have already taken sides. Walt emulates his father's superior attitudes about film and literature, and parrots them to his girlfriend. Frank prefers the warmth of his mother. But each parent seems equally unequipped for parenthood. At one point, Bernard takes his two young sons to see the adult-oriented film, "Blue Velvet". Joan has an ongoing affair with Frank's tennis teacher (endearingly played by William Baldwin), who is clearly not sophisticated or accomplished enough to meet Bernard's exacting standards.
Each son has his own dysfunctional way of dealing with the breakup. Walt decides to perform a song in the school talent contest, but, unbeknownst to his parents or (initially) to the contest judges, he has plagiarized the song from Pink Floyd. Frank, meanwhile, starts to swear violently, drink beer regularly, and masturbate in the school library, leaving traces of his activities on books and lockers around the school. The parents seem unequipped to recognize their childrens' dysfunctions, or to deal with them. Bernard offers to rent a room to one of his attractive female students, and in short order sleeps with her, unaware of Walt's infatuation with the same young woman. And Joan heads off for a romantic weekend with her tennis instructor boyfriend, leaving Frank alone (and forgotten by his father) at home.
While Walt has sided with his father in this story, the son remains nostalgic for a time when he and his mother went together on trips to the Museum of Natural History. He recalls fondly, and with the fear of a young child, the oversized replicas of a giant squid fighting a whale in one of the rooms of the museum. The film ends ambiguously without closure for any of the protagonists.
--Jan Arata, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Squid and the Whale |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- marriage going to pieces
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- teacher/professor
Age:
- 40's-50's
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- irritated
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) long straight
Body type
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- A lot of foul language
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Jan Arata
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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