"Uneven, Lewd Family Drama"
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What You Need To Know:
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is a drama about the effects of a divorce on the two male children of an intellectual married couple in New York City. The father, Bernard, is a vain, pseudo-intellectual literary teacher whose writing career is failing. His wife, Joan, is having another affair and is getting her own recognition as a writer. Jealous of her new career, Bernard confronts Joan about her affair, and they separate with joint custody of their two sons, Walt, 16, and Frank, 12. Both boys are distraught about shuffling back and forth, and both are struggling with their adolescent sexual lust. Things come to a head when both boys get into trouble at school.
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is a humanist look at the effects of divorce and adolescence on boys. The two child actors, Jesse Eisenberg as Walt and Owen Kline as Frank, are excellent, but Jeff Daniels is not convincing as the father, and Laura Linney as the mother has an under-written part. The movie’s foul language and sexual content are unacceptable. A masturbation scene featuring the 12-year-old is criminal and should be prosecuted as child abuse.
Content:
(HH, B, LLL, V, SS, NN, AA, D, MM) Strong humanist worldview of a very dysfunctional family and a divorce situation, with some weak attempts at morality; 50 obscenities, eight strong profanities, two light profanities, an obscene gesture, and some frank sexual talk; mother slaps son after rude gesture, man collapses in street in what appears to be heart attack, and a few scary images in a museum of a giant whale model biting a giant squid model; depicted masturbation when 12-year-old boy sticks hand down his pants, implied masturbation by boy in another scene, teenage girl masturbates teenage boy, implied fornication, teenagers kiss, woman’s infidelity is a topic of discussion in several scenes, college woman tries to seduce 16-year-old boy while apparently having an affair with boy’s father, father walks in on father kissing and talking dirty to one of his college students, and teenage girl strips down to bra before teenage boy, who decides he’s not ready yet to fornicate; upper female nudity in one scene, upper male nudity, and teenage girl in bra; alcohol use and 12-year-old boy secretly drinks alcohol; smoking; and, lying, jealousy, vandalism, negative parental models, permissive parenting, separation and divorce, and father and 12-year-old son get angry when they make mistakes while playing tennis and they curse.
More Detail:
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is an uneven, low-budget art drama about the effects of a separation and divorce on the two male children of an intellectual married couple in New York City. The father, Bernard, is a vain, pseudo-intellectual literary teacher whose writing career is failing. His wife, Joan, is having another affair and is getting her own recognition as a writer.
Jealous of her new career, Bernard confronts Joan about her current affair, and they separate, agreeing to joint custody of their two sons, Walt, 16, and Frank, 12. Knowledge of his mother’s affairs makes Walt angry, but Frank is still devoted to his mother. Both boys are distraught, however, about shuffling back and forth between two houses, and both are struggling with adolescent sexual desires. Walt and his girlfriend consider fornicating, and Frank starts masturbating and secretly drinking alcohol. Meanwhile, their mother takes up with Frank’s immature tennis teacher, and Bernard secretly takes up with one of his female students. Things come to a head when both boys get into trouble at school and Walt finds out about his father’s new affair with the girl who also infatuates Walt.
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is a humanist look at the effects of divorce and adolescence on boys. The two child actors, Jesse Eisenberg as Walt and Owen Kline as Frank, are excellent, but Jeff Daniels is not convincing as the conceited and angry father, and Laura Linney as the mother has an under-written part. Though the character insights are sometimes rewarding and poignant, the movie’s foul language and sexual content are totally unacceptable. A masturbation scene featuring the 12-year-old is criminal and should be prosecuted as child abuse.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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