The Squid & The Whale

Last night Colin, Brian and I went to a free showing of the Noah Baumbach film The Squid & The Whale. It was a sponsored event by Viacom of which I can only remember their jingle at the end of Roseanne, the 80's America sitcom. After a brief spell of faux hob-nobbing, we took our bottles of Stella and found some seats and grabbed at trays of which passing waiters were offering tasty treats inbetween inane banter until the film started.

It may be worth noting that Baumbach also wrote The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, which also has idiosyncratic and characters and unhinged dialogue although as he is also directing this film it seems to gel a lot better in terms of fluidity and character development. It is also hilariously funny and I can't recall a cinema audience laughing out loud and continually throughout a movie in either so many years I've forgotten or it has actually never happened. The secret that Baumbach has found is not so much in the dialogue but how his characters deliver it and how he captures the momment. There is some excellent use of the handheld camera which adds a realism and also surrealism to certain scence which heightens their impact and draws the audience in.

It is also worth noting that the film is based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother which has allowed him to add a secret and meaningful depth to the boys characters and draw from a wealth of childhood memories adding a super-realism into each character whilst portraying the touching story of how these boys deal with their parents divorce. At times very forward and frank and at times intimate but always ludicrously entertaining, The Squid & The Whale is a comedy drama gem of a movie and worth picking up.

I would give this film 4 firm handshakes out 5.