I watched The Squid and The Whale alone, thankfully. I don't know what the screenwriter was thinking, but he missed the boat on a couple of key issues. One, there are no consequences to anyone's actions. For example, when the younger son is caught masturbating on school grounds, the parents are informed and nothing happens. Nada. Zip. Nobody is outraged, hurt, shocked or upset by his behavior. When the older son is caught plagiarizing (he performs a song at his school's variety show that is written by Pink Floyd but claims that he wrote it), he is referred to the school psychologist. Why wasn't the younger son placed in counseling for his behavior (not to mention the fact that he is portrayed drinking not just beer but liquor)? Second, Bernard is clearly an unfit parent; he curses endlessly in front of his kids, has a visible affair with his student in their home, and leaves his younger son home alone while he goes to an event at a distant college campus with disastrous consequences. Again, nothing happens. Most mothers would haul him into court and limit his visitation, but Joan seems passive in this situation. Not good... Jeff Daniels is a great actor, but I felt like someone else would've portrayed Bernard with a better mix of skill and pathos. I ended up not caring about anyone in this picture and that shouldn't be the case with such a hot-button, emotionally-charged topic.