I loved this movie.
Noah Baumbach’s portrait of a disintegrating family might just be the best film that I’ve seen in months, if not all this year. Two of the worst parents in the world, Bernard Berkman, a failed writer struggling to stay relevant, and Joan Berkman, an up-and-coming novelist, tell their sons they are divorcing.
As the two boys, Walt and Frank, struggle to deal with the news, alongside the most painful parts of adolescence, they can not escape their upbringing unscathed. It’s this coming-of-age aspect of the movie that deeply affected me most likely because of my own insanely messed up childhood.
The film has that painful quality to it; the sense of reality that’s so hard to capture where everything is awkward and unforgivable, sort of like watching the original version of The Office. The deft writing and superb performances are so real that the film hits you exactly where you like good art to go, and it doesn’t let up.
And ain’t that just right, my brother, as Ivan would say.
I felt so sad during and after the movie – but in a way that left me knowing it was a wonderfully constructed film. One of the year’s best, in my wee opinion.