Review of The Squid and the Whale (2005) by Matthew A — 23 Jan 2010

It's hard to rate this, because I love love love the script. Absolutely. But honestly the way the film was executed wasn't entirely my cup of tea. I saw this film when it came out, and didn't like it, but now about 4 years later, after seeing Margot At The Wedding and learning alot more about film and my self, I re-watched this film and have plenty to say about it...

I love the kid who plays the younger brother, and there is a very neat moment between Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney when he mentions his father told him he might be able to save their marriage. Probably the most truthful moment of the film, performance-wise from the two.

Now, Margot At The Wedding is one of my favorites, I think all around, the script, directing, performance, cine.. were all fantastic. While The Squid had a lot of jittery things I wasn't a fan of, some in editing, some in how they shot it, a lot of choices in performances and pacing... I guess I wasn't a huge fan of the pacing.

Anyway, my friend Alejandro said that he liked Bambauch as a writer much more than a director, and I didn't agree with him until I re-watched this, and I think I agree with him up until the Margot film; I love Margot in every aspect, and think it's his best directed film, while script-wise I think it was just as good as the Squid...

I'm excited to see future films from Baumbach because I love his writing, sense of humor, and after Margot, his directing....I'm sure he'll continue to make such interesting films.

:p.