Beat the parents: "The Squid and the Whale"

You could make a good case that Jeff Daniels has been a man in limbo.

Think about it. For a decent actor, he's neither been a box-office draw nor an indie darling. After his solid turn in "Terms of Endearment," he managed some leading man roles, i.e. "Something Wild" and "Arachnophobia," then settled into supporting roles, i.e. "Speed," "Dumb and Dumber" and "Pleasantville." More recently, you can catch him in "Good Night and Good Luck" or ignore him in "Because of Winn-Dixie." (Hey, I saw that six times. It ruled!)

But at age 50, Daniels may have delivered his best performance as a mutation of his college professor from more than two decades ago in "Terms." And he's not alone, as indie film "The Squid and the Whale" gets the best from almost everyone who crosses the screen -- adults and kids.

Fully reflective of its $1.5 million budget, the movie gives us a simple premise that everyone knows is much more complex. In mid-1980s Brooklyn, Daniels and his wife, Laura Linney ("Congo") are splitting up and splitting custody of their two kids, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline. The former was fun in "Roger Dodger," the latter is Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates' kid. Don't worry, he can act.

What makes "Squid" believable is that every character is just that: believable. Daniels really fancies himself a member of the intellectual elite who's essentially full of sh*t. Linney really is the more decent parent who nevertheless can't deny her own needs and runs around with other guys, but not in a sexy, "Unfaithful" kind of way. Eisenberg really does idolize his dad to the point of being a mini-him, more for worse than better. The younger Kline really is the most confused by it all, wanting things to be simple just as his young adolescent life is getting more complicated all on its own.

It's easy to write off Daniels as a jerk and Eisenberg as a punk while watching this, but I thought the complications and confusions of divorce were pretty well captured. Of course, there's plenty of funny stuff, too, and writer-director Noah Baumbach offers some great exchanges among the characters that fit well into the overall situation, even if there's little possibility that people going through this in real life would be that unwittingly clever.

While not that well known, Baumbach wrote and directed another "life changes" movie called "Kicking and Screaming." Not to be confused with the inane Will Ferrell movie of the same name, "Kicking" follows current and recent college students while they deal with various relationships. Ten years later, "Squid" deals with the family thing, and it's well worth the mere 88 minutes. No question there are some faults -- maybe just a little more character development would have been good, and there are a few disgusting moments, too. Then again, how many chances do you get to hear a kid try to sound smart by referring to a Kafka work as "Kafkaesque?"