it an ambiguous end and walt berkman ( jesse eisenberg ) tell his slow witted girlfriend sophie and and while he talk about kafka metamorphosis and he could easily be reference the squid and the whale . writer director noah baumbach have craft a film that be equal part uproarious humor and personal anguish . there isn not a hint of the shaky imbalance that plague movie that attempt to cross comedy and drama a he tell the story of joan and bernard berkman ( laura linney and jeff daniel ) and a couple that have spend year in a downward spiral of unhappiness and affair and and crush hope . walt and his younger brother and frank ( owen kline ) approach this transition with a blend of misplaced anger and ( often hilarious ) sexual awkwardness while baumbach embed trait of the parent in the son and which truly make u feel that there be something at stake with the outcome . even if you do not know that baumbach and wes anderson ( rushmore while the life aquatic ) be close friend and you would notice from the overall design of the squid and the whale represent the use of music a a dramatic element ( pink floyd hey you play a crucial role ) and costume design ( bernard and walt wear the same kind of nike ) and and the titular exhibit and which bear more than a passing resemblance to the drawing that punctuate anderson film . and while the emphasis here a in anderson royal tenenbaums be a dysfunctional family and baumbach wisely keep u intimately invest in the small cast and thus tighten both the dramatic and comedic effect . anderson film all too often suffer audience detachment a a consequence of gigantic ensemble cast . and the actor be in fine form represent daniel bernard be the epitome of a once successful author in flux and look to an adventurous student ( anna paquin ) to kick start his faded sex drive while linney joan be a blend of loose moral and regret while eisenberg fuse the clunky transition to adulthood with anxiety over his identity ( don not be difficult and he say in lockstep with his father ) while and kline foul mouth and alcohol drinking and semen spread frank display the type of grow up experience that be seldom touch in mainstream cinema . but the key to squid really be it ambiguity it doesn not go down a predictable route and and by the end and our mind be bubble over with question ( do joan remember watch robin hood with walt . do they retrieve the cat . do walt get back together with sophie . what be the picture frank carry around . what do bernard have for breakfast . ) that we do not fault it for not answer . a an intimate snapshot of a family in transition and not only do question go unanswered and but the end really isn not an end at all . yet this story really doesn not need one . the squid and the whale be a funny and beautiful and and painful experience . do not miss it .