Dir & Writ: Noah Baumbach

• Jeff Daniels - Bernard Berkman
• Laura Linney - Joan Berkman
• Jesse Eisenberg - Walt Berkman
• Owen Kline - Frank Berkman
• Anna Paquin - Lili
• William Baldwin - Ivan

A film about divorce set in the 80’s doesn’t really sound all that appealing, does it? Maybe not, but this is still a film worth seeing

I’m not sure how much of this is based on truth, but it seems that quite a bit of this film is based on Baumbach’s parent’s divorce, and there is a very strong sense of truth and honesty running through this film. And is quite a sad film, dealing as it does with the breakdown of a marraige, but at the same time it has some great humour.

It is the characters and acting that make this such a good film. Bernard is one of those overly academic types that has to analyse everything to death. Who is so sure of his own opinions that he isn’t happy until everyone else shares them. He has been a succesful author, but his most recent works haven’t been published. Joan, on the other hand, is an up-and-coming author, her work is excerpted in the New Yorker. Both husband and wife come across as caring, but somewhat distant parents to their two sons. It is almost as though they treat them too much as adults. Bernard in particular is guilty of this with Walt. Even more so after he leaves the family home and moves across the park.

But despite the excellence of Linney and Daniels, this film would be nothing if the two actors playing the sons didn’t deliver. And deliver they do.

Walt over identifies with his father. He worships him and takes all his opinions on board as though they were his own. He doesn’t even bother to read the books he recommends to a girlfriend, he so trusts his father’s opinion. In a way he is the perfect embodiment of the self-obsessed teenager, believing he is capable of greatness, and thinking he is so much better than others.

Frank seems hardest hit by the divorce. The youngest in the family he doesn’t share as many interests with his father. A fact emphasised when Frank tells Bernard that he is a philistine. That he wants to be a philistine. But he isn’t coping with the divorce to well, especially after being left behind by his father he ends up spending the weekend alone. He turns to drink and masturbation.

This isn’t a film everyone will enjoy, but I found it very entertaining, and moving in a non-sentimental way. The Bernard character comes across as more of a bad guy than anyone else, but there isn’t really any judgement being passed on any of these characters. They’ve all done silly stupid things, because that is what life is about. This film is content to simply present them and their actions and let the viewer decide on the meaning.

Official Site | IMDb | Daddyo’s | Ramblefish | Movies in a Nutshell

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