This is a brilliant little slice-of-time
movie, set in 1986 Brooklyn, about a family dealing with divorce. (It’s
autobiographical on the part of writer-director Noah Baumbach.) It’s a
melancholy and emotional, but not maudlin, film, aided by a nice quiet
soundtrack. The parents are Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney. Linney’s very good,
but Daniels’s is the pivotal character, a self-important literature professor
and unsuccessful novelist who fortifies his ego by being fiercely competitive.
The couple’s college-age son reacts by adopting his father’s opinions as his
own, while the younger one recoils.
This isn’t a comedy, but it’s almost funny
how much the professor’s image of himself is divorced from reality. Daniels
is quite brilliant in his portrayal of the almost hilariously narcissistic
father, and Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline make strong impressions as the sons, too. Even without having to read it, it’s almost impossible not to assume
that the father is based on a real person, such is the level of detail in the
character. You’re embarrassed for the son as he parrots his fathers opinions,
such as that This Side of Paradise is “lesser Fitzgerald,” though he
inconveniently hasn’t read it.Baumbach
doesn’t take his characters through too many changes, mostly just the older son
becoming a little wiser. (There’s no needless flash forward to 2005, either.) He offers
only distinctive personalities and efficient storytelling.
circulated via email 11/10/05 and revised/posted 10/9/13
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