Review: The Squid and the Whale
After reading several positive reviews of this film I was really looking forward to watching it, so I am very sad to say that it turned out to be quite a disappointment. There were similarities in plot to Me And You And Everyone We Know (teenage boys whose parents split up and the boys involving themselves in some bizarre sexual experiments) but where that film was wonderfully brilliant, this one was tragically crap. OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration - the first half of the film sped by as I was intrigued by the characters and plot, but I soon found myself not caring about what happened and severely disliking both parents, with the children faring little better.
You can usually bet on geeky teenage characters getting my approval but here the older one (I actually can't even remember their names) was an insensitive brat and the younger one just didn't have the sweetness or humour of the adorable Robby in Me And You. The film was short, which I usually would be pleased at because I dislike it when they go on too long, but in this case I would have liked more depth and explanation to go into some of the events which just didn't really have the effects I presume they were meant to.
Maybe it was trying to be more realistic, but I feel that a few clichés would have added a bit more drama and fun to this strangely pointless film - maybe a bust up between the dad and the sports instructor the mum has an affair with, or at least some resolution about what happens to the poor cat! They even failed at being realistic as the older son manages to win a talent contest by pretending to have written a Pink Floyd song, and no-one finds out until days later - surely someone in the seemingly large audience would have noticed and heckled or something? It was just stupid, and so is this film.
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