filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

jwoodsvf14 If you don't think this is one of the greatest movies ever... you know what you are!

poetcomic1 Those who were Brooklynites in the 80's will enjoy the scenery enough to make this a must-see for the backgrounds alone! Jeff Daniels portrait of a spiritually empty narcissist of an intellectual writer is merciless and spot on. I really KNOW this guy from real life. The older son imitates his father's arrogance and immaturity, slavishly echoing dad's opinions on Dickens and 'philistines' and then finally hurting and alienating the sweet girl who wants to care about him. The 'indie film' gives itself the freedom to show us a lot of pain but not a lot of pat answers. I know many viewers can't stand that. The mother, well played by Laura Linney is seen through everyone else's eyes but we never get to see her through her own eyes - she has no 'therapeutic' moment of revelation. I needed one more scene with her and perhaps with her older son. That is why I didn't give this a 9. I need to know mom just a little more - it bugged me.

Gabriel Baumbach's The Squid And The Whale is a film that's dripping with a veneer of intellectualism. A product of such masses of taste and culture, that it immediately feels obtrusive. It would be easy to receive the picture as a study of the intellectual, but this is merely a framework for some larger concepts.Baumbach borrows Wes Anderson's (specifically, The Royal Tennenbaums) quiet absurdity, and Harmony Korine's subtle indifference, to paint an intricate look at some very interesting characters. One can a find a greatly performed, fantastic cast here, with some sparkling chemistry, assisted in no small measure by the riveting, energetic script. The film uses its rather standard premise: a family separation, to examine the plight of the individual. Barnard is a stuffy, arrogant, self proclaimed intelligentsia who cannot peer beyond the strictures of his own ideas. His wife (whom I forget the name of at this juncture) is the opposite. Free spirited, anti-misanthropic, and commercially successful. Their children represent mixtures of themselves, caught in the middle between two often unbearable extremes. The people in this work all search for some form of substance- Eisenberg's character, for example- recognition from his father, intellectual equity, sexual perfection, and so on. One of my main complaints, however, is directed at the younger brother, who appears to be struck into an early version of some subverted adulthood. Many of his scenes seem slightly... how can one put it, strange and incomprehensible for the sake of it?Technically, the film is unimpressive, but not offensively so. Construction is pretty minimalist, with an attention to semi-long takes and theatrical whip pans. Nonetheless, the sequences are usually lit in a very warm, pleasant manner, illuminating some gorgeous sets and lovely colours. The era of 1986 is more or less useless, but appropriately subtle (no hideous references to the Human League or Ghostbusters.) The soundtrack, too, is damn great. Ultimately the film comes off as effortless: a confident, passionate portrayal of some very strong characters. Occasionally, the piece gets too caught up in them, discarding some of the supporting roles for caricatures (proving the dismissive Barnard right in most cases, which strikes me as contradictory) and often rolling in too much of its own dry wit. Regardless, this is a solid picture, and one that captures many ambitious themes and ideas, galvanized by a fascinating series of characters.

sharky_55 Bernard Berkman is somewhat of an intellectual, to put it lightly. He will conjure references and allusions to the most obscure of artists in ordinary conversation, and is a former highly successful writer himself. In fact his last, breathless (heh) words to his ex-wife as he is taken away on an ambulance is something about a vague memory of them watching Godard but only he enjoying it. This seems, well, pretentious as some viewers might call it, but I think what it really says about Bernard is that he is the kind of intellectual snob that gets off on this sort of stuff - it rules him, and his own self-image. Then there is conflict and divorce, partly because Joan has found success with her own writing, but this is never really touched on. This too seems like another extension of Bernard - he feels threatened by her fame and ability, whilst for Joan it is not even close to being something of an ego-booster. In reality the film is predominately about the elder son Walt. If there's one major criticism it is that this focus takes away from the younger son's storyline; it's filled with strange, bizarre ideas about sexual awakenings and nascent adolescence but these are merely footnotes compared to the deeper, richer story of Walt. Frank provides an opposition for Walt's initial misgivings - they both take one parent's side, as divorce plots mandates they should, and Walt has been indoctrinated into blaming her mother for overshadowing Bernard's spotlight and sleeping around, causing the fracturing of the marriage. Eisenberg has a specific sort of acting persona. It is less pronounced and easily identified here in his early career, but here it is nevertheless effective, manifesting in his cold, snobbish front that is no doubt a response to his father's lack of attention and presence in his early years. He puts on an appearances of being well-read as a way to gain his approval, although we don't need to read his report on Gatsby to know how impossibly pretentious his views are. His desire to have sex is off-put by his fear and inexperience of it, hence pushing away Sophie, pretending it is a non-issue and overcompensating by chasing Lili. This bubble isn't broken until he stumbles upon Bernard basically trying to rape her - in that moment Walt's high-minded regard takes a blow, staggers and begins to re-consider, especially after his continually lambasting of his mother's active sexual lifestyle. Opposing this is a rather awkward, forced moment where Joan bumbles down to a surprised Frank, having obviously been in the middle of sex. If anything by applying the blowtorch to Bernard's indiscretions the film lets off Joan a little lightly. The most simple way to see the effect of Bernard on his sons is actually in sports. He has convinced himself and others that he is half decent at tennis and table tennis (and yet continually berates Ivan and those wishing to take up a career in professional sports), and passed that enthusiasm onto Frank and Walt. But what he has also passed along is the ugly, brutish form of his strokes, and the inevitable explosion of anger upon losing a point. This sort of inheritance is touched on in another interesting titbit. Sophie, upon finding out Walt is breaking up with her, tearfully goes to the old 'mother and father were right about you'. Apparently a simple handshake can be extrapolated to a weak will and decision making process. The whole thing is little more than a wink to the audience; after all Sophie is less a fully formed character and more an amalgamation of attributes and traits that Walt is supposed to be too blind to appreciate. And yet it does feel like a genuine line - a concrete impact of parenting that rubs off on the willing children. She too bears those scars, but perhaps they aren't as deep as those in the Berkman family.