Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg
Bernard Berkman, the patriarch of an eccentric Brooklyn family, claims to have been a famous novelist but is now reduced to teaching. His wife Joan discovers a literary talent of her own, and it break...( read more
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DVD Release Date: March 14, 2006
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Stats: 4,970 reviews
Flixster Reviews (4,970)
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September 29, 2009I hate the expression 'Coming of Age' but I guess this is what this film is but it?s not just 'Coming of age' for the young characters, everyone has growing up to do in this very sweet and honest film!
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June 28, 2009Well done movie. awkward. Had hard time enjoying it fully but I suppose it's cause I used to smear semen all over the place myself when I was younger
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June 13, 2009One of the best movies of 2005. Very underrated and not known by most people. Should have won the Original Screenplay award at the Oscars, too. Noah Baumbach created an amazing film, here. Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney should also have been nominated for Oscars. This movie just b...( read more)
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April 10, 2009The Squid and the Whale examines the affects on two young boys after their parents decide to separate. It's a funny, honest and moving film but one that soends too much time echoing it's point. I enjoyed the ways the boys began to echo their parents but a lot of the time it felt ...( read more)
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November 20, 2009Noah Baumbach's bitter, dry, sardonically witty dramedy is a remarkably observant portrait of a family on the brink of self-implosion. In Brooklyn in 1986, Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels), once a somewhat successful published author now teaching literary classes to college student...( read more)
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November 16, 2009What I think I love about this so much, is that the characters are so ruthless and dead on. Finally a movie where people aren't so nice all the time. Not one character is perfect, they're all screwed up in their own way. It makes it easier to like a character when they aren't bui...( read more)
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November 9, 2009A little bit up its own ass (Wes Anderson style) but the movie is actually about a guy who is completely up his own ass so it's great that way. Cast is awesome. William Baldwin.
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November 7, 2009A family dramedy that never quite hit the spot but has a very nice cast (Jeff Daniels never stops to amaze me) and did not overstate its meaning and purpose. Also, it is interesting that the parents were behaving like kids and the opposite. All in all, a well drawn movie with a f...( read more)
Critic Reviews
December 6, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
November 4, 2005
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
It has the messiness of real life, with uncombed hair and unanswered questions. full review
October 13, 2005
Claudia Puig, USA Today
An incisive and intimate tale of a Brooklyn family falling apart as told by the two sons. full review
October 7, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Without jerking tears or reducing the acid content of his wit, Baumbach's humane movie gets under your skin. full review
October 7, 2005
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Has so much going for it -- including intelligent performances that mesh beautifully, and a keen understanding of how seemingly small moments can rattle the foundations of families -- that you walk aw... full review
October 5, 2005
David Edelstein, Slate
You can look at The Squid and the Whale as the truest kind of artistic coming-of-age story: a cathartic piece of self-criticism. full review
October 5, 2005
A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Mining his own chidlhood, Noah Baumbach has put together an unsparing, funny portrait of a family in crisis and a young man trying to figure out his parents and himself.
September 25, 2005
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
Baumbach's film substitutes Wes Anderson's ironic preciousness for a more blunt confrontation of its characters' mixed-up, distraught emotions. full review
Comments
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September 16, 2007I hope some of you WILL read this review...and that others of you (who do know me) will STILL continue to like me?? Perhaps I became sooo bored I missed the title reference?? Marine? I expected something marine from the title. Reminds me a little of Bill Murray's Broken Flowers BORED ME IN PARTS (AS CRAIG S. SO APTLY PUT-see BELOW, "..shockingly real performances, but I couldn't grip onto the film because of these self-absorbed characters..") My THOUGHTS? DIVORCE? Why? Does no 1 appreciate each other? respect family? Dad sleeps with son's girlfriend? Again why? OK I DO NOT ADVOCATE ABUSE ORSTD TRANSMISSION thoughtlessly to your partner? Can you still love someone who gives you HIV? 50% divorce rate..could 25 percent occur becuz we are delusional? Personally I have adopted the extreme policy of never sleeping with friends' ex-husbands, co-workers,etc I remain solo (separated from an ex-junkie & cheat for YEARS!!) YET I RESPECT MARRIAGE!! LOL I respect friendsships.....
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September 24, 2006only 3 stars??? this was the best american movie that came out last year...
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June 9, 2006How real a movie can be? This express the american family. It was a great and very original screenplay.
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