The Squid and the Whale

Do you like drama of the parental misconduct or adolescent sexual confusion nature? If so, your in luck!

Written and directed by Wes Anderson collaborator Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale is essentially a semi-autobiographical story of the divorce of his own parents, novelist Jonathan, who can actually be seen in the movie hiding in the background, and critic Georgia Brown. The heavily symbolic title comes from the Natural History Museum diorama of a squid and a whale locked in a death-grip struggle. I saw this last year, the sculpture itself is both beautiful and hideous to look at, if you haven’t, do check it out in the American Museum of Natural History in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.

I don’t feel like typing a long synopsis, so let me sum it up for you. This movie debuted at Sundance [like most of the movies I talk about.] in 2005. The Squid and the Whale contains brilliant dialogue, fantastic acting that is without a doubt hilarious, yet increasingly sad all at the same time. Quite simply, it’s one of the best films I have seen. I seem to say that a lot.

My opinion: 4/5

Note: These suggestions are all over the place, none of them follow any pattern, rhyme or reason.