The Squid and the Whale (2005) * * *

Directed by:  Noah Baumbach

Starring:  Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Anna Paquin, Owen Kline, William Baldwin

Noah Bambauch's semi-autobiographical, if not wholly autobiographical The Squid and the Whale is set in the mid-1980's and tells the story of a divorcing intellectual Manhattan couple named Bernard (Daniels) and Joan (Linney) and the effect it has on their sons Frank (Kline) and teenager Walt (Eisenberg).  Walt stays with Bernard, mostly because dad has taken up residence with one of his students (Paquin) and Walt likes her too.   Frank stays with Joan, who has a new boyfriend (Baldwin), and expresses his anger and hostility by wiping semen all over his locker and school library.

Bernard and Joan make the mistake of trying to behave as if the brain can somehow override the heart in such a situation.   Both are in pain and hostile to each other, but they intellectualize and try to act civilly for the sake of their sons, but Walt and Frank aren't fooled by the masquerade.  Joan has had affairs while Bernard's literary career has stalled while Joan's writing is flourishing.   Bernard gnashes his teeth at Joan's boyfriend, who truly wants things to run smoothly.

Told in a taut eighty minutes, The Squid and the Whale benefits from superior performances.  With Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney, how could you not?   Eisenberg and Kline also turn in solid, engaging supporting work as the conflicted sons who act out their anger in differing ways.  We already mentioned Frank's, but Walt instead plays Pink Floyd's Hey You at a talent show and trying to pass it off as his own composition.  The audience he is playing for obviously never listened to Pink Floyd or even heard of them, which allows Walt a chance to shine for a brief moment while the despair of his family life collapsing encloses around him.