Short, fast, and loud. ish. Effortless movie reviews by D

So, I’ve realized I watch a lot of movies. So I thought maybe I'd sort them out in my head by, well, sorting them out. Lightly, without much effort. Because I’m lazy, really.

So I recently watched The Squid and the Whale, which I had fairly low expectations of, mostly I think because somebody told me it sucked. My roomie asked if it was a shotgun movie. “A what?” “You know, the kind of movie that, when you finishing watching it, you need a shotgun next to you because its so depressing it makes you want to blow your brains out?” Or, the kind I normally watch, I guess is what she meant. And, being in the whole ‘season of suck’, I can assuredly say, no, I don’t think this is a shotgun movie. Though it is a bit depressing.

In a low effort nutshell, its about a family of 2 kids, both attached to a different parent, and 2 parents, both with a lifetime of accumulated idiosyncrasies, and well, issues. For example, I like to make fun of pretentious bastard writers (I happen to know one pretty well, I might add). So the Dad, Jeff Daniels, was pretty satisfying. The parents are both screwed up, and use their kids to feel less lonely, prove points, and put their issues on them, and the kids try to deal with it. The film is deeply detailed in the feelings of individual, defining moments in one’s life, and how those small things seem to have lasting effects on who you are and how you cope, and how that in turn shapes the rest of your relationships.

The movie was kind of sad, but hopeful in a way. It seems very realistic in the sense of moments and feelings, and the sum of life. But when you realize through all their mess, they are still lovable, you stop shouting at them, and begin to feel a little sad for you and everyone you know like that, and still love them nonetheless. And then you have hope for change, that maybe we can overcome the sum of our parts.