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October 30, 2005
The Squid and the Whale
We saw "The Squid and the Whale" today, finally (synopsis, NYT review). It was filmed in Park Slope (and is now playing in every theater nearby), so I've been itching to see it, if only for the scenes of the old neighborhood and brownstone interiors. The plot follows a mid-80s divorce between a self-involved, formerly-successful writer and his wife, who is just beginning to find some success in writing. They have two boys, aged 12 and 16. The characters, with the exception of the mother, are all well developed -- almost painfully so. Both boys are at vulnerable ages of a different sort, and the extent to which they are influenced by their parents' neuroses is a major theme.
There's a lot of great, funny dialogue and humiliation. The whole experience of divorce is chronicled, from the anger the kids feel to the bad-mouthing parents do of each other. It's painful to watch the scenes where the kids are clearly looking for direction and comfort that neither parent seems able to provide. Each character's vulnerability and shortcomings are obvious in nearly every scene. When the younger boy runs away from his father's house to his mom's, his mother, instead of figuring out what's wrong, explains that it's not "her night" and she needs time for herself sometimes. The father treats the older boy, Walt, as if he's a carbon copy of himself, and encourages him to "play the field" of women when the kid is barely handling his first relationship. Walt is happy to have his father's attention and confidence and adopts his father's philosophy wholesale. He ends up practically divorcing his mother, yelling at her for having an affair and using phrases clearly not familiar to him. This creates some comedy, since the audience can see what's going on -- the teenager looks a little ridiculous with his righteous, accusatory look and his talk about "bringing men into the house right under our noses".
All in all, I enjoyed watching it -- it may be a familiar theme (the disfunctional family), but the characters were believable and interesting. The time-frame was also familiar to me, since I was growing up at the same time -- I think we might have had the Burger King glasses that show up in one scene.
As for Brooklyn scenes, the father is continually losing his parking space and having to drive around the neighborhood looking for a new one (we know ALL about that). There are shots of subway stations from 7th Ave to Ditmas Park, and there are a couple of scenes from a Chinese restaurant in the Slope (still not sure exactly which one). I like the inside of the family's brownstone -- the kitchen, the bookshelves, the staircase bannister. I'm a sucker for Brooklyn brownstones. The family seemed to live on a block in the North Slope near the park (now known as TwoMillionDollarBrownstoneVille, or, alternatively, Bugabooville or NannyLexusStockbrokerVille).
In other movie news, we saw and loved "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and have been saying "Cheeeeeeese. I love cheeeese. Gorgonzooola, limburger, monterey jack!" ever since.
After the movie we headed over to Sugarcane for some Carribean food -- Derek has been wanting to go there forever. It was a little loud and crowded, but not bad. The plantains, shrimp on sugarcane skewers, and the roti were all great. Not sure I'd want to put up with the noise again, though. I'd advise against the sugarcane mojito, too -- regular mojitos have enough sugar as it is.
Posted by csageday at October 30, 2005 01:38 AM