The Squid and the Whale

I really liked this one. All the good things critics are saying about it are true. The performances are perfect from the four leads, and Jesse Eisenberg really nails the "too young to be as neurotic as Woody Allen" teenager that I was, and many, many pseudo-cultured young men are. To make reference to the most obvious comparison again, the film features some of the best masochistic intellectual bashing since Annie Hall. Like that film, it goes beyond simple comedy and into the level of insightful commentary on its characters. Also, the references are funny- Carpenter's "The Thing", "The Mother and the Whore", "The Wild Child", "Breathless".

There are many little things that The Squid and the Whale gets right. The portrayal of adolescence is one of the most awkwardly honest I've ever seen in a film. There is a sophistication to the family interactions that never tips into either nostalgia or cynicism, a great achievement in the writing. I particularly loved a small moment in the first scene, where the family is playing a doubles tennis match; as it climaxes in a shouting match between husband and wive, the two sons convene on the other end of the court, watching their parents in silence. The handling of the quick transition between a friendly tennis game and "adult time" is truly great filmmaking. Many moments like that one reminded me of my own childhood, and the kinds of things I felt when I would see my parents arguing.

I haven't seen another Noah Baumbach film, and I wasn't too impressed with the script for The Life Aquatic, but this film is definitely the sign of a writer-director with talent and something to say.