The Squid & The Whale (15 ) HHHH Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, William Baldwin, Anna Paquin and Jesse Eisenberg THIS poignant, witty and impeccably acted drama features a show-stopping performance by Jeff Daniels.

The story centres around a wealthy New York couple in the 1980s who begin the protracted and painful process of divorce which threatens to tear their family apart. As the parents Daniels and Laura Linney struggle to remain civil, their elder son Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) takes the side of his father (Daniels), while the younger sibling Frank (Kline) moves in with mum (Linney).

Screenwriter/director Noah Baumbach uses the experience of witnessing his parents' own divorce (his parents were high flyers - dad was a successful novelist while mum excelled as a film critic) as the inspiration for this pithy and heartfelt movie.

While it concentrates on the mess of a divorce, the lighter touches involving the children are a pure joy.

Upon moving in with mum, Frank is delighted to discover booze and other pleasures.

While Walt, in his pseudo-intellectual musings, is humiliated by a girl he is trying to impress.

But it is Daniels' film, playing the monstrous ego-maniac writer capable of great tactlessness and sensitivity in almost equal measure.