in1986 and in brooklyn and new york and the dysfunctional family of pseudo intellectual compose by the university professor bernard ( jeff daniel ) and the prominent writer joan ( laura linney ) split . bernard be a selfish and cheap and jealous decadent writer that rationalize every attitude in his family and life and do not accept philistine people that do not read book or watch movie and while the unfaithful joan be grow a a writer and have no problem with philistine . their son and the teenager walt ( jesse eisenberg ) and the boy frank ( owen kline ) and feel the separation and take side represent walt stay with bernard and and frank with joan and and both be affect with abnormal behavior . frank drink booze and smear with sperm the book in the library and a locker in the dress room of his school . the mess up and insecure walt use roger water song hey you in a festival a if it be of his own and and break with his girlfriend sophie ( halley feiffer ) . meanwhile joan have an affair with frank tennis teacher ivan ( william baldwyn ) and bernard with his student lili ( anna paquin ) . this little family and come to age drama be a sensitive story and apparently base on the self biography of the director and writer noah baumbach . the story be very well act and develop a phase of separation of the couple bernard and joan and it effect in their son walt and frank . the moment of the conclusion be pretentious and deceptive and with walt in the american museum of natural history recall a good or maybe the best moment of his life look at a giant squid fight a whale displayed in the museum . my vote be seven . title ( brazil ) represent a lula e a baleia ( the squid and the whale ) .