THE SQUID AND THE WHALE/THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS: A DOUBLE BILL OF 'DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY' COMEDY-DRAMAS REVIEWED BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. (2005) WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY NOAH BAUMBACH. PRODUCED BY WES ANDERSON.
STARRING JEFF DANIELS, LAURA LINNEY, JESSE EISENBERG, OWEN KLINE, ANNA PAQUIN AND WILLIAM BALDWIN.
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. (2001) DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY WES ANDERSON. WRITTEN BY WES ANDERSON AND OWEN WILSON.
STARRING GENE HACKMAN, ANGELICA HUSTON, GWYNETH PALTROW, BEN STILLER, OWEN WILSON, LUKE WILSON, BILL MURRAY, DANNY GLOVER, KUMAR PALLANA AND ALEC BALDWIN AS THE NARRATOR.
'Family isn't a word. It's a sentence...'
'Family isn't a word. It's a sentence...'
These two films have, like, about a million things in common. First and foremost, they're both American comedy-dramas from the 'Noughties in which the comedy is more understated rather than piss-yourself-laughing funny, if you get me.
Secondly, they're both the well-known and critically acclaimed movie projects of director-producer Wes Anderson. Thirdly, they each have a Baldwin. Alec Baldwin narrates THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS and his brother William plays a sleazy tennis instructor in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. I know, right? 'They might as well not even HAVE a Baldwin...!' (SIMPSONS quote...)
Last but not least, both films are the December 2016 releases of choice for the rather excellent CRITERION COLLECTION, of which more later. And yes, I know it's January now so please don't feel like you have to point that out. A gal can take a break for Christmas, can't she...?
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE is probably my favourite of the two, because the parents in it are both writers and the film is chock-full of snobby book-and-film references which I always enjoy.
It's the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of Walt and Frank Berkman, two kids growing up in Brooklyn in a bookish family in which the parents are always at each others' throats before finally deciding to separate. The 'joint custody' situation which ensues is fraught with difficulties for all four members of the family.
Bernard, the Dad, is a really horrible person. He's an utter book-and-film snob, which I can forgive him, but he discusses the worst and most sexually inappropriate things with his older son Walt, which I can't.
He treats the boy like another adult, failing to realise that it's a father he needs to be to the child, not some douchebag who says things to the boy like: 'You got that it was about her c**t, right? The story, I mean?' Jeez. What a knobhead. What father talks to his son about 'c**ts,' goddammit? Even if they are featured in a short story or novel...! What a disrespectful word to use. Humph. A lad shouldn't know what one of those is at that age. And what a sub-par father.
I like the Mom, Joan. She has affairs with other guys because clearly Bernard is not cutting it in the husband department. She's having stories accepted by THE NEW YORKER and her forthcoming book deal is making her hubby positively sick with jealousy because his own writing career has more or less ground to a halt. I like the idea of all that sex she has with William Baldwin and all the literary success, so I'm totally on Mom's side in this one, haha. It's still not a good way to behave around the kids, though.
The kids are well on the way to being totally screwed-up thanks, in fairness, to both their parents but mostly their Pops. Walt, the sixteen-year-old, is already treating women shockingly badly thanks to his father's dreadful example. The Dad is shacked-up with Anna Paquin from TRUE BLOOD, for Chrissakes, and he's only been gone from the family home five minutes.
Frank, the twelve-year-old, acts out his own pain in a way that's so gross I'm not going to write about it here because it makes me feel queasy. You'll have to watch the film yourselves to find out, haha. But if Mom and Dad don't get their respective acts together, their kids are going to grow up tainted
permanently by their parents' break-up and horribly jaundiced outlooks on life...
The story of how the film got its name is a beautiful one, so make sure you watch those scenes carefully. The music of Pink Floyd features heavily too, but not in the way you'd expect. Yes, I'm being deliberately mysterious there, haha. The film won a ton of awards and the English indie folk band NOAH AND THE WHALE took their name from the film. See if you can work out how they did it...!
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS is the story of a dreadfully dysfunctional American family comprised almost entirely of former child prodigies, played by celebrities whom you'll all recognise.
Angelica Huston as the gentle archaeologist Mom is probably the nicest of the whole messed-up lot of 'em. I'm glad too that she has a nice suitor in Danny Glover. Ben Stiller as Chas the widowed international financier seems hellbent on making his two curly-headed sons as miserable and paranoid about their own safety as he is.
Luke Wilson is a mopey former tennis success who's secretly in love with his mentally-unstable adopted sister Margot, played in the most deadpan of fashions by Gwyneth Paltrow in smart shiny loafers and a blondey-brown fur coat.
Owen Wilson plays Eli Cash, a junkie author of Western novels and friend of the family who has also slept with Margot, to the distaste of Margot's much older hubby Raleigh, played by Bill Murray. Mind you, the list of guys Margot Tenenbaum hasn't slept with would apparently be shorter than the list of chaps she has bunked with, if you get my meaning.
What a horrible, miserable lot, all wasting their talents and capacity for life and love. Just frittering it all away down the dunny as if it's worth nothing.
At least Mom's rascally ex-hubby, the titular Royal Tenenbaum (splendidly played by Gene Hackman), actually has a bit of life and mischief about him, unlike the rest of the Tenenbaums. When he turns up after an absence of several years claiming to be dying of stomach cancer and wanting to put things right with his family, the Tenenbaums have no choice but to take him in...
I love the faithful servant Pagoda, though I don't understand why he stabbed his master that second time. I think Owen Wilson should have been locked up for what he did to Chas's kids poor sweet dog, Buckley.
And shame on Pappy Royal for teaching those kids to steal and run across the street without waiting for the Green Man! That 'free-spirited' montage could have been handled way more responsibly.
Anyway, both these multi-award-winning films are out now on Blu-Ray thanks to THE CRITERION COLLECTION, who have an uncanny knack of choosing good films for us to sink our teeth into. They each come complete with tons of great extra features and they'll get your New Year off to a cracking start.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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