since every divorce or separation be unique and come with guaranteed conflict and it be a natural theme for drama . also and give the fact that over half the marriage in the united state end in divorce and it be a topic that almost everyone have have some experience with . while the squid and the whale be not up to the quality of scene from a marriage or kramer vs. kramer it be solidly craft and expose enough raw nerve that i be not left want more detail . it will probably bring up a lot of bad memory for a lot of people . in this movie we have a family of four with the parent and bernard and joan ( jeff daniel and laura linney ) and be writer with joan career on the ascent and bernard on the decline . there be two boy and age about sixteen and twelve . be literary type and bernard and joan be well equip to fight and manipulate with word . initially the boy take side and but thing get complicate a time go by . under stress people frequently reveal unknown or unexpected personality trait and in the course of the squid and the whale all the family member learn a lot new about each other . the thing i like most about the squid and the whale be that we get to witness the family dynamic play out from the perspective of each of the four participant . the final scene be near perfect a the old son come to a new understanding of what be happen to his family through the metaphor of the squid and the whale exhibit at the american museum of natural history in manhattan .