The Squid and the Whale
Sony Pictures
Rated R

Review by: Larry Thomas

Jeff Daniels is being touted as a possible nominee for his work in The Squid and the Whale. This story of the unraveling of an upper middle-class family in Brooklyn, circa 1986, is based on the real-life experiences of writer-director Noah Baumbach.

Laura Linney, Anna Paquin, William Baldwin, and three members of the "second generation"... Jesse Eisenberg (brother of Hallie, who was the in-demand child star for a while), Owen Kline (son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates), and Halley Feiffer (daughter of satirist Jules Feiffer). This small independent film is far better than most anything churned out by the corporate studios this past year.