As someone who has gone through the divorce of their parents, I know a little secret that only other kids of divorce may know: sometimes, through all the anger and confusion, divorce can be funny. Director Noah Baumbach knows this, and his new film The Squid and the Whale, is a story of all the sides of divorce: the anger, the confusion, the rebellion, the retaliation, and yes, the humor as well.
Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney star as Bernard and Joan Berkman – Brooklyn writers (him – on his way down, her – on her way up) and parents of two adolescent boys, who are heading into a messy divorce (is there any other kind?). As Bernard moves into a new home he claims is the “filet of the neighborhood” (the filet being empty, dingy, and depressing), Joan stays in the family home, hiding “her” books so that Bernard can’t take them when he leaves. And as Mom and Dad battle it out over issues such as visitation (“shit, the cat…we hadn’t talked about the cat…”), the boys, Walt and Frank, start to take sides in their parents battle.
Well written and well acted, the film’s real strength in its honesty – the truest statement the film makes is right there on the movie poster: the tag line is “Joint Custody Sucks”, and it could not sum up the film better. But the thing I loved most about the film was that none of the characters are “good guys” or “bad guys” - Joan cheats, Bernard is selfish, and the kids respond to the chaos like...well...like kids going through a divorce at home. In addition to choosing sides in their parents war, the boys “act out” in ways that would have their parents up in arms, if their parents weren’t so busy being wrapped up in their own anger towards each other (Walt steals a song and passes it off as his own in the school concert; 11-year-old Frank begins swilling beers and picks up a dirty habit which leaves school library books forever changed…).
The abrupt ending aside, I really enjoyed this movie. It’s one that may make you laugh when you least expect it – just like a real divorce.
The Squid and the Whale is in theatres now.
