The Squid and the Whale (2005)
- Starring:
- Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, (more)
- Director(s):
- Noah Baumbach
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Category:
- Drama, Independent Films
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Two boys learn the hard way about how a marriage falls apart in this independent comedy drama. Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is a novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His wife, Joan (Laura Linney), meanwhile, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan's two sons -- 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) -- are told that their parents are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of their Park Slope, Brooklyn, neighborhood. As the parents set up a schedule for spending time with their children, Walt and Jesse can hardly imagine that things could get more combative between their folks, but they do, as Joan begins dating Ivan (William Baldwin), Frank's tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing the house with Lili (Anna Paquin), one of his students. Meanwhile, the two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Walt taking after his father and Frank siding with his mom. Based on writer/director Noah Baumbach's own childhood experiences with his parents' divorce, The Squid and the Whale won prizes for writing and direction at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 81 mins
Complete Cast:
- Jeff Daniels - Bernard Berkman
- Jesse Eisenberg - Walt Berkman
- William Baldwin - Ivan
- Anna Paquin - Lili
- Laura Linney - Joan Berkman
- Owen Kline - Frank Berkman
- Halley Feifer - Sophie
- Ken Leung - School Counselor
- Director(s):
- Noah Baumbach
- Writer(s):
- Noah Baumbach
- Producer(s):
- Clara Markowicz, Wes Anderson, Peter Newman
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Youth Substance Use, Adult Situations, Alcohol Consumption, Adult Humor, Strong Sexual Content, Profanity)
- Categories:
- Independent Films, Drama
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - American Film Institute - Best Picture
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Screenplay
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - National Board of Review - Best Original Screenplay
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - National Society of Film Critics - Best Screenplay
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - National Society of Film Critics - Best Actor - Runner-up
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Screenplay
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - Online Film Critics Association - Breakthrough Performer
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - Sundance Film Festival - Best Screenplay
- 2005 - The Squid and the Whale - Sundance Film Festival - Dramatic Directing Award
