The Squid and the Whale

A great movie and it didn't make me cry! I'm getting fed up with being put through an emotional wringer every time I see a movie. This one details the breakdown of a marriage from the perspective of the two sons. I could see a lot of my boys in these two characters (not the semen smearing, I never caught either of the little nags doing that!). The dialogue made me chuckle and I liked all the characters without exception, even Jeff Daniels as the pompous, narcissistic dad. It reminded me of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm in that it shows kids reacting to and suffering as a result of bad decisions that their parents make. Divorce is war and the boys feel they must choose sides. The whole sad situation is handled with a lot of humour and clever subliminal touches (like the posters on the wall of dad's new hovel). We leave the movie believing that the kids are alright.