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One of the most enjoyable scripts I’ve ever sat through, you can say not much happens but the dialogue alone is very enjoyable. From Noah Baumbach I’ve only seen The Meyerowitz Stories before this and you can clearly see how great a writer he is. It felt like a much smaller scale Royal Tenenbaums, a story of a smug intellectual family who struggles to stay together, with a lot of humor thrown in.
I never knew how great of an actor Jeff Daniels is, as well as Jesse Eisenberg giving a great performance. The little brother was hilarious as well as the tennis instructor.
Clocking in at only 80 minutes, I can say that it was still a very complete film. I recommend specifically to fans of Wes Anderson, as the humor and dialogue are very similar to his films.
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Eisenbergs character claiming to have written the Pink Floyd song is one of the funniest things I've seen in a movie.
I remember a similar incident that happened in high school where this dude won some kind of school poetry concert and it was just a recital of the poem at the beginning of the Outkast song 13th floor(Growing Old).
It was a majority white catholic school before the age of the internet though so I was probably the only one that was aware of the plagiarizing.
Similarly, I remember when I inadvertently taught some guys at camp that no, their buddy did not write Portrait of Tracy and perform it at their HS talent show. Made me sad as a bass player. I like to think that the would-be "composer" dedicated it to someone he was dating, for maximum cringe.
Seriously, has no one ever heard Pink Floyd in that universe??
No they had, the parents just never paid attention to him when he would play the song. They were too wrapped up in their own life or whatever.
plagiarism
No, it was his interpretation.
Oh...they busted him later on in the film. He didn't get away with it. :)
Margot at the Wedding has some of the most unlikable characters I've ever seen in a film.
That said, I really liked it.
If you want to check out early Baumbach, Kicking and Screaming is great and another excellent more recent film is Frances Ha. I've always been as big of an admirer of Whit Stillman and Noah Baumbach as Wes Anderson.
I just watched kicking and screaming, not quite up to the same standards, I didn't know baumbach had an interest in soccer.
There's Kicking and Screaming and then there's Kicking & Screaming. Big difference.
It was very funny to be fair to baumbach, a different sort of humour but a funny movie. The bit with coffee had me in fits of laughter
Frances Ha is next on my list! Thanks
Frances Ha is VERY different than Squid and the Whale.
It's "fine", but it's more of an indie mumble-core type film. He co-wrote it with Greta Gerwig, which would explain the subtle shift. Frances Ha is definitely worth seeing but it feels much more detached and twee compared to Squid, which I think is his best film by a mile.
Funny Ha Ha. I appreciate how different his filmography feels between the movies I mentioned along with Mr. Jealousy, Margot at the Wedding, Greenberg, Mistress America, and The Meyerowitz Stories. I can say the opposite for someone like Wes Anderson whose movies all look (except the stop motion stuff) and feel uniform.
Throw Lady Bird on there after that, if you haven’t seen it.
When he told the girl that they don't throw away the paper towels that were just used for drying hands spoke to me on so many levels.
I hated this whole movie. Not because it's bad, but how rotten the family is. But not in an over the top, movie, kind of way. It just felt real to me. It's a really good film.
I agree. The father is a total asshole, which led to the older son being an asshole. The mom was justified in her actions but still pretty unlikable.
I enjoyed the film. But it needed more cephalopods and cetacea. If you’re expecting Moby Dick or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you’re going to have your expectations subverted.
Much like with Aaron Sorkin, or Wes Anderson, there's a sort of comfort in the unnatural dialogue that allows the characters to seem more human.
Jeff Daniels is amazing. Check out the Purple Rose of Cairo and check out how he plays the dual role of an actor and a character he plays that’s come to life. It’s fascinating how he finds such differences and plays both pitch perfectly. Just got added to Prime, I believe.
As for the movie, I’ve seen it only once but it’s my favorite Baumbach. I view stylistically as being something in between Wes Anderson and Linklater. A neo-realist Wes or a quirkier Linklater. Either way, I’m tempted to upgrade my dvd to the criterion set.
That movie made me realise that Jesse Eisenberg has been typecast for atleast 14 years now.
It's funny, while watching this I had the strong feeling that it was autobiographical for Baumbach to a large degree, and then I read him say that it was largely autobiographical. Weird how that is.
Definitely my favorite Baumbach movie. The script is perfect.
When it comes to 2 animal title movies, I'm a bit more keen on Eagle vs. Shark.
This is an awful movie but people praise it for its artsy and indy vibe.