Bernard Berkman, the patriarch of an eccentric Brooklyn family, claims to have been a famous novelist but is now reduced to teaching. His wife Joan discovers a literary talent of her own, and it breaks up the family, leaving the two teenage sons, Walt, 16, and Frank, 12, divided between their parents. The wife starts an affair with her younger son's tennis coach, while the husband starts sleeping with a student whom his elder son is courting.

MOVIE REVIEW

One of the funniest and yet at the same time most depressing films of the year, "The Squid and the Whale" looks at the true story of two boys dealing with the difficult divorce of their parents in the 1980's. What's funny about it? No matter how screwed up your family is, this family is guaranteed to make yours look like The Partridge's.
Read our Squid and the Whale, The movie review »