Review of The Squid and the Whale (2005) by Tracyr. — 14 Jan 2006
It's a well-done movie with some things to day about how children react to divorce, no matter how "managed", and some of the foibles of intellectual people having to deal with emotions instead of ideas.
But the character of the father is so over-developed, and to some degree, over-invested in by the director (who no doubt felt this way as a child, but needs to work with his as creative material, not therapy) that frankly the whole movie becomes a reaction to and against him, and the rest of the characters, most noticeably the mother, become washed out by comparison.
Unfortunately one's entire reaction to the movie becomes dependent on whether you find Dad utterly annoying and worthless, or somehow touching despite the bluster. And that probably accounts for the wildly differing reviews.
This review of The Squid and the Whale (2005) was written by Tracyr. on 14 Jan 2006.
The Squid and the Whale has generally received very positive reviews.
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