The Squid and the Whale

[Redlum]

But, the film has no sense of character development. The film consistantly shows the volatile actions of Daniels' character. His character is a necessity to be heavily highlighted at the beginning to introduce conflicts, but as the film goes along it should recede on the focus of his character and begin to develop the objectives of the other characters and their stories.

I see the film as being primarily about Walt shedding his fathers shadow. Walt and Bernard's arcs are inextricably linked because of Walt's infatuation with his father to the point of imitation. Furthermore, the delusion in Walt's admiration for Bernard is never exposed due to the formers naivety and the  latters cunning and pomposity. Therefore it is justified to me that Walts arc be as flat as Bernards, with only the formers moment of realisation being a significant change in direction - immplying an imminent reconciliation with the mother that was always there for him. A reconcilliation which we almost see until Bernard comes tearing into the house like a jealous child.
In fact that scene is a perfect example of how the objectives of the other characters across the board are constantly being blocked or reassigned by Bernard. He fucks everything up. 

I'm satisfied with the drama and comedy that this dynamic brings. I can understand you wanting more 'meat' particularly with an ending that feels undeniably stunted the first time round. As for the mother and the youngest son, they feel like casualties of war to me.

[modage]

I really don't know who the dumbest admin is.

[cron]

i saw it today and all i can say is that it's pretty grim and i'd probably never watch it again. divorce is a topic that disturbs me in deep ways.

[Split Infinitive]

I see the film as being primarily about Walt shedding his fathers shadow. Walt and Bernard's arcs are inextricably linked because of Walt's infatuation with his father to the point of imitation. Furthermore, the delusion in Walt's admiration for Bernard is never exposed due to the formers naivety and the  latters cunning and pomposity. Therefore it is justified to me that Walts arc be as flat as Bernards, with only the formers moment of realisation being a significant change in direction - immplying an imminent reconciliation with the mother that was always there for him. A reconcilliation which we almost see until Bernard comes tearing into the house like a jealous child.
In fact that scene is a perfect example of how the objectives of the other characters across the board are constantly being blocked or reassigned by Bernard. He fucks everything up. 

I'm satisfied with the drama and comedy that this dynamic brings. I can understand you wanting more 'meat' particularly with an ending that feels undeniably stunted the first time round. As for the mother and the youngest son, they feel like casualties of war to me.

I pretty much agree with this.  The movie is, in part, about how long it takes Walt to come around to reality, making the audience more and more incredulous that he doesn't wake up sooner.  Though you might have had the right idea, Kevin -- absolute disgust is what we should be feeling, and perhaps he's making the point that we ought to not judge Walt/Noah too harshly, since a lot of folks like me were captivated by just what an irrepressible asshole Bernard is.  I couldn't look away, and the fact that you could might be a testament to the fiber of your character, as opposed to those of us who were completely sucked in.

...of course, if that's the case, then I'm still not sure it's a fair criticism of the film.   

[Gold Trumpet]

I see the film as being primarily about Walt shedding his fathers shadow. Walt and Bernard's arcs are inextricably linked because of Walt's infatuation with his father to the point of imitation. Furthermore, the delusion in Walt's admiration for Bernard is never exposed due to the formers naivety and the latters cunning and pomposity. Therefore it is justified to me that Walts arc be as flat as Bernards, with only the formers moment of realisation being a significant change in direction - implying an imminent reconciliation with the mother that was always there for him. A reconcilliation which we almost see until Bernard comes tearing into the house like a jealous child.
In fact that scene is a perfect example of how the objectives of the other characters across the board are constantly being blocked or reassigned by Bernard. He fucks everything up. 

I'm satisfied with the drama and comedy that this dynamic brings. I can understand you wanting more 'meat' particularly with an ending that feels undeniably stunted the first time round. As for the mother and the youngest son, they feel like casualties of war to me.

I pretty much agree with this.  The movie is, in part, about how long it takes Walt to come around to reality, making the audience more and more incredulous that he doesn't wake up sooner.  Though you might have had the right idea, Kevin -- absolute disgust is what we should be feeling, and perhaps he's making the point that we ought to not judge Walt/Noah too harshly, since a lot of folks like me were captivated by just what an irrepressible asshole Bernard is.  I couldn't look away, and the fact that you could might be a testament to the fiber of your character, as opposed to those of us who were completely sucked in.

...of course, if that's the case, then I'm still not sure it's a fair criticism of the film.   

I'm not arguing with the importance of the storyline. I'm extremely happy you guys got to the crux of the story. The problem looking back at my review is that I never did. Thats why my review seems off when the criticism could have been centered better.

My main contention with the film is how it plays out the relationship of the father and son. The fact that the son undeservingly holds his father up on a pedestal and copies everything he says is obvious from the beginning. The point of conflict begins at the father and the divorce and the problems develop with the mimicry and anger his son is showing. As the films rolls along, the problems are obvious, but the film never introduces other strands of narrative into the film to deepen the story. His son getting a girlfriend and the young attractive student moving just reinforce things we already understand about the characters. The portrait is never deepened but only extended. It allows problematic characters like Daniels to be annoying because his antics essentially just become repetitive. I wasn't annoyed with Daniels because his performance was that good. I was annoyed with him because the writing allowed his character to be whiney and ridiculous in every scene. Sure I understand the purpose is to portray him as such, but the film doesn't have to do it the way Blair Witch Project was trying force viewer sickness by shaking the camera the entire time. It made the film feel forced.

And when the son begins to understand the faults of his way, it is in the matter of only a few scenes. One is him talking to his mother and the other is when Daniels' character tries to take the youngest sibling away. There's little progression in resting the evolution of a character on only a few scenes.